OU Continues Homestand Tuesday With EMU

(RV/RV) Oklahoma (7-1, 0-0 Big 12)

Eastern Michigan (2-3, 0-0 MAC)

Dec. 7, 2021 / 5:00 p.m. CT / Lloyd Noble Center / Norman, Okla.

NORMAN – The Sooners continue their five-game homestand in the month of December on Tuesday when Eastern Michigan (2-3, 0-0 MAC) comes to Norman for a non-conference showdown. Oklahoma (7-1, 0-0 Big 12) will look to secure its fifth win in a row. OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk enters the contest with 199 career wins and would become the sixth head coach in the Big 12 Conference to reach 200 victory with a win on Tuesday.

THE STARTING FIVE

OU notched one of its best wins of the season on Saturday when it knocked off Mississippi State 94-63, securing its largest non-conference win over a Power Five opponent in nearly a decade. The senior trio of Ana Llanusa, Taylor Robertson and Madi Williams combined for 56 points while freshman guard Kelbie Washington reached double-digit points for the first time of her career scoring 10 points.
Under head coach Jennie Baranczyk, the Sooners high-powered offense is one of the best in the nation. OU's 88.0 points per game rank second nationally as the Sooners dish out a nation's best 20.9 assists per game. In addition, Oklahoma's 10.5 3-pointers made per contest rank sixth in the country as Taylor Robertson's 42 makes are the most in Division I. The Sooners' big three of Ana Llanusa, Robertson and Madi Williams are the only trio in the nation to rank inside the top-110 nationally in points per game.
Tuesday night's meeting is the first between Oklahoma and Eastern Michigan. Despite it being the first contest between the schools, the ties between OU and EMU run deep as the Eagle's head coach Fred Castro worked under former OU head coach Sherri Coale from 2001-07 in a variety of positions. Among other stops, Castro was an assistant at Washington and coached current Oklahoma assistant coach Chantel Osahor during her All-American career in Seattle. Oklahoma owns a 3-0 record all-time vs. teams in the MAC.
Ana Llanusa is pouring in 18.5 ppg this season and was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Dec. 6 for her performances at SMU and vs. Mississippi State.
With every game played, Taylor Robertson inches closer to breaking the NCAA record for career 3-pointers. She entered the 2021-22 season with 322 made treys, 175 away from Kelsey Mitchell's NCAA record and just 70 short of Laurie Koehn's Big 12 record of 392. Her 3.96 3-pointers per game are just short of Lisa McMullen's NCAA record of 4.00, set over 56 games as the sharpshooter is the nation's active leader in that category. She enters Tuesday's game just 12 made 3-pointers shy of tying Aaryn Ellenberg's OU career record.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Eastern Michigan (2-3) enters Norman off 10 days of rest, with their last game coming on Nov. 27 in a 67-60 loss to FIU in Miami. The Eagles are led in scoring by Areanna Combs (18.0), Danielle Rainey (15.2) and Ce'Nara Skanes (13.0). Skanes leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per game. The Eagles play with pace but are efficient and boast the fifth-highest field-goal percentage (.490) in the nation. They score 81.6 points per game, good for 13th best in the country and boast the second-highest 3-point percentage (.427) in the nation.

EMU is led by former Oklahoma staffer Fred Castro, who also was an assistant coach on the Washington teams that current OU assistant Chantel Osahor played on. Castro is 59-90 at EMU and is in his sixth year.

UP NEXT

The Sooners remain in Norman for the remainder of their non-conference schedule, taking the court on Friday vs. No. 16 BYU at home. That game will tip at 6 p.m. CT and air on Sooner Sports TV.