Sooner Basketball Game Notes
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GAME 12- WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21, 2005 SOONER BASKETBALL GAME NOTES Chris Freet, Women’s Basketball Media Relations Director UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 180 W. Brooks Suite 2525, Norman, OK 73019 O: (405) 325-3671 | C: (405) 249-6075 | F: (405) 325-7623 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL [email protected] | www.SoonerSports.com 2005-06 SCHEDULE MARQUEE MATCH UP OF NCAA POWERS DATE OPPONENT TIME SCORE TV HITS LLOYD NOBLE ON WEDNESDAY W/L 11.3 OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (EX) W 107-44 PRESEASON WNIT - CAMPUS SITES SETTING THE SCENE 11.11 WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE W 89-57 Date: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 11.13 SMU W 80-43 Location: Norman, Okla. 11.16 at New Mexico W 74-63 Tipoff: 7 p.m. CST 11.20 No. 7/9 Connecticut L 82-62 COX Venue: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) ODWALLA CLASSIC - SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. TV: Fox Sports Net 11.25 Iowa W 85-68 Webcast: None 11.26 at San Francisco W 53-51 Radio: KOKC (1520 AM) 11.30 TCU W 77-63 OKLAHOMA MICHIGAN STATE Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara Degiusti SOONERS SPARTANS Tickets: (800) 456-GoOU BERTHA TEAGUE CLASSIC - STILLWATER, OKLA. 9-2 Overall 7-2 Overall Promotions: Pregame presentation from USA Basketball to 12.03 Oral Roberts W 107-76 Courtney Paris. Pregame pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus. IN THE POLLS IN THE POLLS 12.05 No. 22 UCLA W 83-78 Toys for Tots at entrances, fi rst 500 fans with a gift receive a 12.10 at Missouri State W 68-57 15 USA Today/ESPN Coaches 13 USA Today/ESPN Coaches 12.18 at Illinois L 86-75 free OU Santa hat. 16 Associated Press 11 Associated Press 12.21 MICHIGAN STATE 7 PM FSN 12.30 at New Mexico 8 PM PROBABLE PROBABLE PLAYER TO WATCH STARTERS STARTERS Courtney Paris meet Liz Shimek, Michigan 01.04 at Iowa State 7 PM Kendra Moore - JR | G | 5-8 Lindsay Bowen -SR | G | 5-7 State’s leading scorer and a player of 01. 07 COLORADO 3:30 PM the year candidate. While they prob- BIG 12 / BIG 10 CHALLENGE - CAMPUS SITES AVG: 7.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG AVG: 14.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG ably won’t guard each other, Court- 01.09 at Ohio State 6 PM ESPN2 Erin Higgins - JR | G | 5-9 Rene Haynes- JR | G | 5-10 01.14 at Oklahoma State 1 PM FSN AVG: 10.5 PPG, 1.8 RPG AVG: 10 PPG, 4 RPG ney Paris’ help defense and scoring 01.18 TEXAS TECH 7 PM SSN Leah Rush - JR | F | 6-1 V. Lucas-Perry - JR | G | 5-9 ability will get a serious challenge 01.21 at Baylor 7 PM AVG: 12.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG AVG: 8.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG from Shimek, who is leading the 01.25 TEXAS 7 PM CSTV Ashley Paris - FR | F |6-3 Liz Shimek - SR | F | 6-1 Big Ten in scoring (21.3) and is 01.28 at Texas A&M 2 PM AVG: 7.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG AVG: 21.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG third in rebounding (8.7). Paris has 01.31 OKLAHOMA STATE 7 PM SSN Courtney Paris - FR | C | 6-4 M. Bannister - JR | F | 6-3 out done her high standards in the last three games with averages of 02.04 at Missouri 5 PM AVG: 21.7 PPG, 14.1 RPG AVG: 2.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG 22.0 points and 19.7. 02.08 KANSAS 7 PM 02.12 BAYLOR 2:30 PM FSN 02.15 at Texas 7 PM SSN TIPPING IT OFF 02.18 TEXAS A&M 7 PM 02.21 at Kansas State TBA Facing its third Big Ten team of the season and its third ranked opponent, the No. 16 Oklahoma women’s basketball team (9-2) 02.26 NEBRASKA 1 PM ESPN2 will look to get back on a winning track when it faces No. 11 Michigan State on national television Wednesday. The match up of top-20 teams will air live on Fox Sports (Cox channel 37 in OKC area) with Kevin Eschenfelder on play-by-play and Debbie 03.01 at Texas Tech 7 PM SSN Antonelli on color commentary. BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP - DALLAS 03.07 Big 12 Opening Round TBD FSN The contest will also air live on KOKC (1520 AM) with Brian Brinkley on play-by-play and Tara DeGiusti on color commentary. 03.08 Big 12 Quarterfi nals TBD FSN Toys for Tots will be on hand until halftime collecting gifts from fans. In exchange, the fi rst 500 fans with gifts will receive a free 03.09 Big 12 Seminfi nals TBD FSN OU santa hat. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand for pregame pictures as well. 03.11 Big 12 Championship Game TBD FSN NCAA TOURNAMENT The contest between the Sooners and Spartans is one of the national marquee pre-conference games of the 2005-06 season. 03.18-21 First and Second Rounds TBD Last season Michigan State lost to Baylor in the National Championship Game. The Spartans return three starters and are led 03.25-28 Sweet 16 and Elite 8 TBD by senior forward Liz Shimek (21.3 PPG) and senior guard Lindsay Bowen (14.4 PPG). MSU is 7-2 on the season and 0-2 against 04.2&4 Final Four TBD ranked teams. Both of their losses came to top-10 teams, Tennessee (83-55) and Maryland (75-61). Notes: The Sooners are coming off their second loss of the season, a 86-75 upset at the hands of Illinois. The Sooners are undefeated at All times in time zone of the contest. home this season (4-0) and 1-1 against ranked teams, including an 83-78 home defeat of No. 22 UCLA on Dec. 5. OU will rely on ALL CAPS - Home games EX - Exhibition game. freshman Courtney Paris and her averages of 21.7 points and 14.1 rebounds. Second options Erin Higgins (10.5 PPG) and Leah Rush (12.0 PPG) have come on strong offensively in the last six games. The Sooners will have fi ve days off for the Christmas holiday after facing the Spartans. OU will return to the hardwood on Dec. 30 when it makes its second trip of the season to The Pit to face No. 18 New Mexico. ** OU AND MICHIGAN STATE SEASON STATISTICS ARE AVAILABLE ON PAGES 23 AND 24 OF THIS RELEASE. GAME 12- WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21, 2005 SOONER BASKETBALL GAME NOTES USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll ILLINOIS LEFTOVERS • Paris moved up to sixth on the OU single season blocks list with three swats, which increased her season total to 34. She passed Jo Rank. Team W-L Pts. Last Oklahoma hadn’t paid much attention to Danyel Crutcher in scout- 1. Tennessee (29) 9-0 772 1 ing Illinois for Sunday’s game because she was averaging a meager Mosley (32 in 1988-89) and trails Angi Guffy (35 in 1991-92). 2. Duke (2) 7-0 743 2 three points per game coming off the bench this season. The No. 15 3. LSU 7-0 715 3 Sooners are regretting that decision. • Laura Andrews collected 10 points, all in the fi rst half, in 23 min- 4. Baylor * 9-0 667 5 utes of action. She was only able to get off one shot attempt in nine 5. North Carolina 10-0 655 6 Crutcher scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds second-half minutes. Andrews season high was 11 in the opener 6. Ohio State * 6-1 596 4 to spark the Illini to an 86-75 upset Sunday. Janelle Hughes scored against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 6. Maryland 9-1 596 8 11 straight points during a 16-4 run in the second half as Illinois 8. Connecticut * 7-1 541 9 (6-3) snapped a seven-game losing streak against teams ranked in • Erin Higgins was 3-of-4 from three point range to increase her Big 9. Rutgers 8-1 511 7 the AP Top 25. 12 leading season total to 30. She is shooting .440 (30-65) from 10. Arizona State 8-1 496 10 long range this season. With 164 career makes, she is 11 shy of set- 11. Stanford 5-2 443 11 ting the OU career record. Higgins also started her 60 consecutive 12. Notre Dame 8-1 407 14 Courtney Paris scored 27 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for Okla- game. 13. Michigan State * 7-2 388 13 homa (9-2), but she didn’t get a 14. DePaul 10-1 357 16 lot of help and when her fourth 15. Minnesota 6-2 303 12 foul forced her to the bench with SIGN OF THE TIMES FAN SUPPORT AT RECORD LEVELS 12:36 to go, Illinois was poised to 16. New Mexico * 8-2 286 18 Off to a 9-2 start and ranked No. 15, the Oklahoma women’s basket- 17. Oklahoma 9-2 253 15 strike. 42.8 ball team is enjoying record support from Sooner fans this season. 18. Georgia 7-2 237 17 Keep your eye on the 19. Vanderbilt 8-2 225 19 Erin Higgins was 3-of-4 from 3- paint Wednesday night Season tickets sales are at an all-time high with 4,013 packages 20. Purdue 6-2 189 20 point range and had 11 points when two of the nation’s already sold. In mid-October the fan support helped OU race past 21.