Sooners Welcome K-State on Alumni Weekend

²⁰ Oklahoma

Kansas State

Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022 / 4 p.m. CT / Norman / Lloyd Noble Center

Final Four Reunion Info / Tickets / TV / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes / Program

NORMAN – On Saturday, the 20th-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team looks to avenge an early-season loss when Kansas State (18-9, 8-7) comes to Norman for a Big 12 Conference game. The Sooners (21-6, 10-5) are in the thick of the conference race and enter Saturday's contest tied with No. 11 Texas and Kansas for third in the league, two games back of Iowa State and Baylor.

The game is slated for a 4 p.m. tip on Sooner Sports.tv with Chad McKee and Dan Hughes on the call.

The OU WBB program will celebrate the 20-year reunion of the 2002 Final Four team at halftime of Saturday's game, in addition to honoring hall of fame head coach Sherri Coale, who retired last April after 25 years at the helm of the Oklahoma program. The '02 team was Oklahoma's first of three squads to make a Final Four, finishing as the national runner-up with a 32-4 record.

Doors to the arena open one hour before tip and the Lloyd Noble Center's clear-bag policy is in effect.

THE STARTING FIVE

Oklahoma's high-powered offensive attack is one of the best in the country and on pace to be the best in program history. OU's 84.9 points per game rank second nationally and first in the league as 19.5 assists (3rd in NCAA) per game power the attack. In addition, Madi Williams (18.2) and Taylor Robertson (16.9) make Oklahoma one of five teams nationally to boast two 16.9 PPG scorers.
Oklahoma has sunk double-digit 3-pointers in 14 games this season, second most in the Big 12 and fourth most nationally. The Sooners' sunk a season-high 15 treys vs. Buffalo and then again vs. TCU on Feb. 23. OU has hit 10+ in seven Big 12 games this season. The team's 9.4 3PM/game are the seventh most in Division I and would be the second-highest 3PM/game total ever for a Big 12 team, trailing only last year's Iowa State's 10.2.
Under head coach Jennie Baranczyk, OU has notched four top-25 wins this season, the most ever for a first-year Sooner head coach. Two of those wins have come vs. the No. 9-ranked team in the country as OU upset then-No. 9 Texas 65-63 on Jan. 29 and then-No. 9 Baylor 78-77 a few days later on Feb. 2. The Sooners also notched wins over then-No. 16 BYU and then-No. 14 Baylor.
OU's 21-6 start to the season is its best start since the 2008-09 season when the team opened 24-2 and won 20 straight games. The 2001-02 Final Four team that will be celebrated on Feb. 26 in Norman started 22-2. Those two teams are the only teams in program history to reach 20 wins faster than the 2021-22 team.
The Sooners appear in the latest version of Charlie Creme's ESPN Bracketology as a No. 3 seed after starting the year as one of the "Last Four In" and a No. 11 seed. The top 16 teams host in the first two rounds of the tournament. A staple of the NCAA postseason, Oklahoma has appeared in 21 NCAA Tournaments, including 19 since the turn of the century. The Sooners' 21 appearances in the tournament are the second most in the Big 12 Conference and tied for 23rd most in NCAA history.

THE TEAM THAT STARTED IT ALL

On Saturday, the Oklahoma women's basketball program will honor the 2002 Final Four team and Hall of Fame head coach Sherri Coale.

The 2002 squad was the first Oklahoma team to make the Final Four, defeating Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 and Colorado in the Elite Eight. The Sooners then shocked Duke in the National Semifinal before falling to UConn in the national championship. Oklahoma captured both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles en route to a 32-4 record to finish with a final ranking of No. 2 in the AP and Coaches Polls. That Oklahoma team was powered by All-American and two-time Big 12 Player of the Year Stacey Dales, who averaged 17.0 points per game, along with 5.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists. Three other Sooners joined Dales on the All-Conference team. LaNeishea Caufield took home second-team honors, while Caton Hill and Rosalind Ross claimed third-team selections.

Hall of Fame head coach Sherri Coale will be honored as well on Saturday. Coale led the Sooners for 25 years, amassing a 513-294 record and guiding the program to 19 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and three Final Fours. In addition, she led Oklahoma to 10 Big 12 championships and was the four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year.

LAST TIME OUT

Six Sooners scored in double figures for the second time this year as No. 20 Oklahoma led from wire-to-wire, defeating TCU 92-57 in Fort Worth Wednesday night. The win for Oklahoma (21-6, 10-5) snapped a three-game losing streak and notched the program's first 10-win conference season since 2017-18. The Sooners, who moved back into a tie for third in the Big 12 with the win, tied a season-high by sinking 15 3-pointers to down the Frogs.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's game in Norman is the 73rd all-time meeting between the Sooners and Wildcats, with OU holding a 42-30 series advantage. Oklahoma has won 22 of the 33 matchups in Norman, including 14 of the last 16 at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Wildcats won the most-recent showdown between the sides, winning a 94-65 contest in Manhattan on Jan. 23, 2022, as Ayoka Lee scored an NCAA record 61 points. OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk is no stranger to Kansas State, as the first-year Sooner head coach started her coaching career in Manhattan as an assistant at K-State from 2004-06 under Deb Patterson as the Wildcats went 48-18 over the two-year stretch, making the NCAA Round of 32 in 2005 and winning the NIT in 2006.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma will look to sweep Bedlam rival Oklahoma State on Wednesday, March 3 in Stillwater. The Sooners knocked off the Cowgirls 84-58 in Norman earlier in the season. The game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. CT tip on ESPN+.