Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball

Oklahoma Sooners
2016–17 Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team
University	University of Oklahoma
Conference	Big 12
Location	Norman, OK
Head coach	Sherri Coale (16th year)
Arena	Lloyd Noble Center (Capacity: 12,000)
Nickname	Sooners
Colors	Crimson and Cream[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA/AIAW Tournament Final Four
2002, 2009, 2010
NCAA/AIAW Tournament Elite Eight
2002, 2009,2010
NCAA/AIAW Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1986, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013
NCAA/AIAW Tournament second round
1995, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
NCAA/AIAW Tournament appearances
1986, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Conference tournament champions
2002, 2004, 2006, 2007
Conference regular season champions
2001, 2002, 2006

The Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team represents the University of Oklahoma and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.

History

OU women's basketball began during the 1974–75 academic year. In March 1990, Oklahoma officials released a statement saying that the women's basketball program was to be dropped, after many years of sub-par performance and low attendance. Many people voiced their complaints and eight days later, OU reinstated the program.^[2] At the time, the average attendance per game was 65 people. In 1996, Oklahoma hired former Norman High School women's basketball coach Sherri Coale to the same position at the university. The Sooner women's basketball team developed in years since to status as a leader in attendance across the nation. The Sooners averaged attendance of 6851 in 2011–12 at home games, and the support for the sport led to Oklahoma hosting first and second-round games in the Women's NCAA Basketball Championships at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The Sooners also set a record on February 2, 2009, when they played host to the number 13 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, led by coach Pat Summit, who was trying to get career victory 1,000, something that no other coach had done before. The attendance for that game, which was held at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, was close to 13,000 as well as setting a record for the most watched women's basketball game in history. The Sooners led the Big 12 conference in attendance as well. As with the men's team, they call Lloyd Noble Center home.

The program gained national prominence during the 2002 post-season when they advanced to the national title game and lost to the University of Connecticut Huskies. In the 2005–06 season, the Sooners were led by their coach Sherri Coale and the nationally known sophomore twins Courtney and Ashley Paris, daughters of former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Bubba Paris, to the third round of the national tournament. The team also won the Big 12 regular-season championship (with a 16–0 conference record) and the Big 12 Tournament. They became the first Big 12 women's basketball team to remain undefeated throughout conference play.

In the 2008–09 season, the Sooners made it to the Final Four of the 2009 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. They advanced through the Oklahoma City Regional, where they enjoyed considerable home court advantage, as Norman and Oklahoma City are separated by fewer than 20 miles.

The 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons failed to result in regional championships and NCAA Final Four appearances. Playing through rigorous non-conference schedules and a rugged Big 12 slate, the Sooners received No. 6 seeds each of the two years. The 10–11 team advanced through the Charlottesville, Virginia, first and second round site with a win over nearby James Madison University and an upset win over the University of Miami Hurricanes. The season came to an abrupt halt in Dayton, Ohio, in the Sweet Sixteen, with the team falling to No. 2 seed Notre Dame, which steamrolled to a national championship appearance that year. The 11–12 team failed to make it past the No. 3 seed St. John's Red Storm in a 74–70 defeat in front of several thousand Sooner fans in Norman, Oklahoma. St. Johns lost in the Sweet Sixteen to the Duke Blue Devils in Fresno, California.

Oklahoma City hosted an NCAA regional in March 2013.^[3]

The 2012–13 Sooners missed graduating senior Jelena Serena, but retained the rest of the team. Adding to the corps were two National Top 20 recruits, Maddie Manning and Nicole Kornet, and Sooners Jasmine Hartman and Lyndsey Cloman rejoined the active roster. Both Hartman and Cloman sat out the entire 2011–12 season with injuries.

Conferences

Oklahoma has played in the Big 8 and the Big 12 conferences. The Sooners joined the Big 12 in 1996 when the Big 8 merged with four former members of the defunct Southwest Conference.

Coaches

Sooners head women's basketball coach is Sherri Coale, who entered her 18th season at Oklahoma in 2013–14.

NCAA Tournament history

The Sooners reached the NCAA tournament and Sweet Sixteen for the first time in 1986. In 1995, Oklahoma made their second trip to the tourney, falling in the second round.

After another break, the Sooners made their third appearance in the 1999–2000 season, and have become a mainstay in the tournament since then, entering the field of 64 every year since. In that time period, the Sooners have reached three Final Four appearances, which is tied for 9th in NCAA Women's Basketball History. Since 2002, the Sooners' first appearance, their three appearances ties them for fifth, behind Tennessee (6), Connecticut (5), Stanford (5) and Louisiana State (5).

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source ^[4]

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason	Coaches' poll	AP poll
Amy Dahl (Independent) (1974–1975)
1974–75	Amy Dahl	2–14	–		OAIAW
Amy Dahl:		2–14	–
Cathie Schweitzer (Independent) (1976–1979)
1975–76	Cathie Schweitzer	3–14	–		OAIAW
1976–77	Cathie Schweitzer	4–20	–		OAIAW
1977–78	Cathie Schweitzer	20–12	–		SWAIAW
Cathie Schweitzer:		27–46	–
Doyle Parrick (Independent) (1979–1981)
1978–79	Doyle Parrick	13–16	–		SWAIAW
1979–80	Doyle Parrick	17–16	–		OAIAW
Doyle Parrick:		30–32	–
Maura McHugh (Independent, Big 8) (1980–1987)
1980–81	Maura McHugh	21–11	–		SWAIAW
1981–82	Maura McHugh	17–14	–
Big Eight Conference
1982–83	Maura McHugh	17–11	7–7
1983–84	Maura McHugh	22–10	8–6		NWIT Sixth Place
1984–85	Maura McHugh	23–7	10–4
1985–86	Maura McHugh	24–7	10–4	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	18	19
1986–87	Maura McHugh	18–10	6–8
Maura McHugh:		142–70	41–29
Valerie Goodwin-Colbert (Big 8) (1988–1991)
1987–88	Valerie Goodwin-Colbert	14–13	7–7
1988–89	Valerie Goodwin-Colbert	11–16	4–10
1989–90	Valerie Goodwin-Colbert	7–22	2–12
Valerie Goodwin-Colbert:		32–51	13–29
Gary Hudson (Big 8) (1990–1993)
1990–91	Gary Hudson	10–18	4–9
1991–92	Gary Hudson	17–12	7–7
1992–93	Gary Hudson	12–15	6–8
Gary Hudson:		39–45	17–24
Burl Plunkett (Big 8) (1993–1996)
1993–94	Burl Plunkett	18–12	7–7		NWIT Champions
1994–95	Burl Plunkett	22–9	11–3		NCAA Second Round
1995–96	Burl Plunkett	12–15	4–10
Burl Plunkett:		52–36	22–20
Big 12 Conference
Sherri Coale (Big 12) (1996–present)
1996–97	Sherri Coale	5–22	1–15	12th
1997–98	Sherri Coale	8–19	4–12	T-9th
1998–99	Sherri Coale	15–14	8–8	T-5th	WNIT Sixteen
1999–2000	Sherri Coale	25–8	13–3	T-1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	13	18
2000–01	Sherri Coale	28–6	15–1	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	10	7
2001–02	Sherri Coale	32–4	14–2	1st#	NCAA Finals	2	2
2002–03	Sherri Coale	19–13	9–7	T-5th	NCAA First Round
2003–04	Sherri Coale	24–9	9–7	6th#	NCAA Second Round	18	11
2004–05	Sherri Coale	17–13	8–8	T-6th	NCAA First Round
2005–06	Sherri Coale	31–5	16–0	1st#	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	8	7
2006–07	Sherri Coale	28–5	13–3	T-1st#	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	9	9
2007–08	Sherri Coale	22–9	11–5	T-3rd	NCAA Second Round	19	14
2008–09	Sherri Coale	32–5	15–1	1st	NCAA Semifinals	4	4
2009–10	Sherri Coale	27–11	11–5	T-2nd	NCAA Semifinals	3	12
2010–11	Sherri Coale	23–12	10–6	T-3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	15	21
2011–12	Sherri Coale	21–13	11–7	T-2nd	NCAA Second Round
2012–13	Sherri Coale	24–11	11–7	T-3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013–14	Sherri Coale	18–15	9–9	T-5th	NCAA First Round
2014–15	Sherri Coale	21–12	13–5	2nd	NCAA Second Round
Sherri Coale:		420–206	201–111
Total:		744–500
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

References

1. "Brand Colors - Print & Web". The University of Oklahoma Brand Guide. The University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
2. SoonerSports.com. When It Was Dropped. OU Women's Basketball 2006 Media Guide. University of Oklahoma. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
3. "2016–18 regional hosts". Retrieved 2016-04-13.
4. "Media Guide". University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 10 Aug 2013.

External links

• Official website