OU Hosts Annual Field Trip Day on Wednesday

NORMAN – Now ranked in the AP Poll at No. 25, Oklahoma returns to the floor Wednesday for a matchup at 10:30 a.m. vs. Alabama State at Lloyd Noble Center. The game marks Oklahoma's annual Field Trip Day where the program and university welcome over 7,000 K-12 students to the arena to cheer on the Sooners.

The game will air on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Latricia Trammell on the call.

THE STARTING FIVE

The Sooners are on fire offensively again this season, averaging 91.7 points and a Big 12-best 23.7 assists per game. Oklahoma reached 100 points in its 103-74 win over Oral Roberts on Sunday, eclipsing 100 points for the sixth time under Baranczyk as OU improved to 43-2 over the last three years when scoring 80 points. Five different Sooners are scoring in double figures this season, led by Verhulst's 18.0 PPG.
Skylar Vann enters the day in need of just eight points to become the 39th Sooner to eclipse 1,000 career points.
A win would be the 450th all-time for the women's basketball team at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. It would also mark the first 4-0 start for the Sooners under head coach Jennie Baranczyk.
The Sooners rose to No. 25 in the latest AP poll after opening the season without receiving votes in the preseason poll. OU was tabbed at No. 23 in the preseason WBCA coaches poll.
In Sunday's victory over ORU, Payton Verhulst delivered an outstanding performance, reaching a career-high 32 points on 80% (12-15) shooting. Paired with her scoring, she reached career highs in assists (6) and blocks (3) and added six rebounds in the win. Her stat line made her only the second Sooner since 2001 to post 32-6-6 in a game, following in the footsteps of Danielle Robinson who did it once. She is the only Division I player to post 32 points on 80% shooting with six dimes and three blocks since at least 1999.

50 YEARS OF OU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

The 2023-24 campaign marks the 50th season of Oklahoma Women's Basketball as they program's inception came on the heels of 1972 Title XI legislation. The program's inaugural season came in 1974-75 when OU went 2-14 under head coach Amy Dahl. Since then, OU has won 891 games and made 23 NCAA Tournaments, reaching the Final Four three times and winning 12 conference championships. In Oklahoma's 50 years of basketball, the program has produced 49 All-America honors and 15 WNBA Draft picks.

SERIES HISTORY

Wednesday's meeting marks the first between Oklahoma and Alabama State. OU is 19-3 all-time vs. teams from the SWAC and has one more scheduled contest (Southern) vs. a SWAC school this season.

LAST TIME OUT

A career-best performance from Payton Verhulst led No. 23 Oklahoma to a dominant 103-74 win over Oral Roberts at Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday. Verhulst poured in a career-best 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting with six rebounds, six assists and three blocks as Oklahoma (3-0) scored 100 points for the sixth time under head coach Jennie Baranczyk. The Sooners dished out 30 assists in the win, the most for an OU team in the Big 12 era and opened the season 3-0 for the third consecutive year.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma travels to Virginia on Sunday for another showdown vs. a Power Five opponent on the road. The Sooners and Cavaliers will meet at 1 p.m. in Charlottesville with the game available on ACC Network.
The game marks the start of a three-game road swing that closes with OU's trip to Ft. Myers, Fla., for the Fort Myers Tip-Off where it'll take on Princeton on Thanksgiving and Tennessee two days later on Nov. 25.