Rematch with Mountaineers Wednesday

Wednesday, February 5

Norman

7:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

West Virginia

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Ty Russell

February 04, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Free Admission FSOK Radio Live Stats Game Notes

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Wednesday, Feb. 5 / 7 p.m. CT / Norman / Lloyd Noble Center

Tickets / Fox Sports Oklahoma / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

NORMAN - OU is home Wednesday to host West Virginia. The game will tip at 7 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center as the Sooners celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

ON THE AIR

The 7 p.m. matchup will air on the Sooner Radio Network (107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App) with Brian Brinkley announcing.

The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma with Toby Rowland and Brenda Van Lengen on the call.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• The Sooners will look to complete a season sweep of the Mountaineers. OU has done so just once since WVU joined the Big 12 in 2013, winning both games of the 2018 series.

• OU is coming off an overtime comeback win at Kansas in its last outing. The Sooners overcame a 22-point halftime deficit to edge the Jayhawks 94-82 in OT Sunday in Lawrence. Taylor Robertson matched her career high with 31 points; Madi Williams set a new career high with 26; Gabby Gregory notched her first career double-double with 18 points and 10 boards; and Mandy Simpson also had a double-double with 10 rebounds to go with 12 assists.

• Simpson's 12 assist performance at KU ties for the eighth-most assists in a single game in program history. Simpson became the first Sooner to dish that many since Morgan Hook in 2013.

• Robertson was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week after her performance at Kansas. Robertson, who was celebrating her birthday on Feb. 2, scored 25 of her 31 points in the second half and overtime to lead OU to victory. Her five 3-pointers all came after the first half, when OU was held scoreless beyond the arc. She also went 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, setting the school record for the most free throws made in a game by an Oklahoma player (previous record was 11).

• OU's win at Kansas was good for the 500^th of head coach Sherri Coale's career. Coale, who is in her 24^th season at the helm for the Sooners, became the 73^rd coach in Division I women's basketball to achieve the feat.

GAME 21 RECAP: OU 94, KANSAS 82 (OT)

The Sooners engineered the second largest comeback in a Big 12 game in program history as it overcame a 22-point deficit at halftime to defeat Kansas 94-82 in overtime. The win was good for the 500th of head coach Sherri Coale's career.
Taylor Robertson had her third 30-plus point performance this season as she tied her career high with 31 points. The Kansas native poured in 25 of her points in the second half and overtime, with five 3-pointers in that stretch.

Williams scored a career-high 26 points and added four assist and three steals. Simpson had a double-double in rebounds and assists, pulling down 10 boards and dishing 12 assists. Freshman Gregory played beyond her years as she had a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards to mark the first game since Feb. 25, 2019, that two OU players recorded a double-double.

It was a layup by Gregory that tied the game at 71-71 in the fourth quarter and set the Sooners up for their first lead of the game since a 4-2 advantage to start the game. OU trailed Kansas 49-27 at halftime. The Sooners outscored Kansas 29-13 in the third quarter, capping the period on a 7-0 run sealed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Williams to close the gap.

Gregory tied things again at 71-71 when she drove up the lane for a layup. Kansas would score twice more to take a 75-71 lead before OU again rallied and knotted things at 75-all on a trey by Robertson before time expired. Gregory hit a trey at the start of overtime and the Sooners never looked back, outscoring the Jayhawks 19-7 in extra time.

PREVIEWING WVU

West Virginia enters the matchup at 14-5 overall and 4-4 against the Big 12 to sit at fourth in the league. In its last contest, WVU snapped a four-game losing streak (which began with a loss to the Sooners on Jan. 15 in Morgantown) with a 79-71 win over Iowa State at home. Kysre Gondrezick led the way with 21 points while Tynice Martin chipped in 18.

Two Mountaineers are averaging points in double figures this season in Gondrezick, who accounts for 16.8 per game, and Martin, who averages 15.8.

OU won the previous meeting between the teams on Jan. 15 in Morgantown, upending then-No. 17 WVU 73-49 as it held the Mountaineers to just 23.7% shooting.

COALE GETS NO. 500

Sunday's win at Kansas was No. 500 for head coach Sherri Coale, who is in her 24th season at the helm for the Sooners. Coale is the winningest coach in program history at 500-274 (.645).

Coale became the 80^th coach in Division I women's basketball history to have earned 500 or more wins in their careers. Just 36 of those are active coaches. 196 in men's and women's Division I basketball, including 60 of those active, have reached the milestone.

Coale's 500th win moved her into second for the most wins by a coach at an Oklahoma institution The No.1 coach on that list is her former college coach, Stephanie Findley at Oklahoma Christian, who has 628 career wins and is in her 35th season at OCU.

Coale has led the Sooners to 19 NCAA Tournament appearances in 20 years, three Final Fours and nine Sweet 16 appearances since 2000.

A four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Coale has also coached the Sooners to four Big 12 postseason titles and mentored 13 All-Americans, six Big 12 Players of the Year and seven Big 12 Freshmen of the Year.
14 OU players have been WNBA Draft Picks, six of them first-round selections, following their careers under Coale.

The Healdton, Okla., native was inducted into the Women's College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

ROBERTSON NAMED BIG 12 CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Taylor Robertson was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week Monday, marking her second conference weekly accolade of the season. Robertson shares the award with TCU's Lauren Heard.

In OU's comeback win at Kansas Sunday, Robertson, who was celebrating her birthday, scored 31 points on 7-for-12 (58.3%) shooting to match her career high. 25 of those points came in the second half and overtime as she led the Sooners to victory. Robertson had five 3-pointers over that stretch after the Sooners had been held scoreless from beyond the arc in the first half.

The sophomore was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe in the effort. Additionally, Robertson's 31-point performance was her third game with 30+ this season, tying Iowa State's Ashley Joens for the most games with 30 or more points by a Big 12 player this season.

BOARDS COME DOWN, STATS TREND UP

Since December, junior forward Mandy Simpson has stepped up her game inside as a rebounder. At the beginning of December, the junior averaged 4.0 rebounds per game; at the beginning of January, Simpson had boosted her average to 5.7.

Headed into Wednesday's contest, Simpson is averaging 6.8 rebounds per game this season and has pulled down at least five boards in seven on the last eight contests, including a career-high 12 against Baylor on Jan. 4 and 11 each at Oklahoma State (Jan. 8) and West Virginia (Jan. 15). Simpson had 10 to go with 12 assists for a double double at Kansas (Feb. 2).

Simpson did it all at Texas Tech (Jan. 22), pulling down nine boards to go with a career-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting and adding six assists. Simpson is averaging 8.75 rebounds per game in Big 12 play and ranks sixth among players in the league in that category.

Simpson is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game in Big 12 play and ranks fifth among players in the league in that category.

T-ROB TREY TRACKER

Sophomore Taylor Robertson is the NCAA's active career leader in 3-point field goal percentage, 45.9% (210-for-458) in her second season of college basketball. She is also the active career leader in treys per game with a 4.12 average; the next closest player, Rachel Childress of UAB, has averaged 3.32 per game. Robertson is the youngest member of both 10-player lists; the nine other players on each are juniors and seniors.

Robertson is the national leader in made 3s with 105 this season. The sophomore is shooting 45.0% (105-for-233) from deep.

Robertson tied her own record for second place on OU's single season made 3-pointers record list with 105 on the year. Should Robertson continue to average a nation-leading 5.00 treys per game, she is on pace to shatter OU leader Aaryn Ellenberg's mark of 115 in a season (2012-13), as well as the Big 12 record of 123 set by by K-State's Laurie Koehn (2002). The sophomore is the first player in Big 12 history to hit 100 or more treys in back-to-back seasons.

With an average 5.00 3s per game this season, the McPherson, Kan., product also leads the country in that category and leads by a mile; Childress of UAB is also the next closest player and she is averaging 3.82 per game. Robertson is averaging the most 3s per game of any player in men's or women's Division I basketball; Dru Kuxhausen (McNeese) is the men's 3s per game leader and is averaging 4.38.

Robertson leads the Big 12 in 3-pointers this season (105), 56 more than the next closest player: TCU's Jaycee Bradley has hit 49 this season. As a team, OU has made a league-high 177 3-pointers this season; Robertson accounts for more than half of those.

Of Robertson's 434 total points this season, 315 have come from behind the 3-point line. 81 have come from the charity stripe where she is 81-for-90 (90.0%); just 38 of Robertson's points all season have not been 3s or free throws. The sophomore ranks first in the Big 12 in total points (434) and second in points per game (20.67)

Additionally, Robertson's nine made 3s at Wichita State tie for the third most in a single game in women's Division I basketball this season and are one shy of the men's 2019-20 Division I single game record of 10.