March 16, 2007
Southeast-Oklahoma NCAA Tournament First Round Game Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -
TIP-OFF: Southeast Missouri State women's basketball makes its second appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament this Saturday with a first round date in Austin, Texas. The 14th-seeded Redhawks, the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champions, will face third-seeded and reigning Big 12 champion Oklahoma at the Frank Erwin Center on the campus of the University of Texas in a live broadcast on ESPN2 with a start time of 11 a.m.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS: Southeast brings a 24-7 season record and a season-best nine-game winning streak into the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The Redhawks punched their ticket to the Big Dance on March 3 after defeating Murray State by a 62-60 margin for the OVC Tournament title in Nashville. Sophomore guard Sonya Daugherty leads Southeast in scoring with an average of 13.4 points a game, while senior center Lachelle Lyles has tallied a national-best 17.2 rebounds per game. Also scoring in double figures are junior forward/center Missy Whitney (13.1 ppg), sophomore guard Tarina Nixon (11.1 ppg) and junior guard Ashley Lovelady (10.1 ppg).
SCOUTING THE SOONERS: Oklahoma, ranked 10th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and 11th in the Associated Press poll this week, heads into the weekend sporting a 26-4 record on the year. Like the Redhawks, the Sooners have also won their last nine contests, including a 67-60 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament championship game last Saturday in Oklahoma City. Sophomore center Courtney Paris, who earned All-America recognition last year, leads Oklahoma in points (23.6 ppg), rebounds (16.2 rpg), field goal percentage (.567) and blocked shots (105). Sophomore Ashley Nicole Hayes is averaging 12.2 points a game. The Sooners are guided by 11th-year head coach Sherri Coale, who has tallied a 230-117 career record with nine Big 12 championships (regular-season and tournament) and an NCAA runner-up finish in 2002.
SERIES HISTORY: Oklahoma has produced a 3-0 lifetime mark against Southeast with Saturday's contest being the first meeting between the two schools on a neutral site. The Sooners won the last game with the Redhawks by a score of 84-62 in Norman, Okla., during the 2004-05 campaign. OU had also won the two previous meetings by an average of 32 points per game, including an 87-59 defeat in 2002-03.
BATTLE ON THE BOARDS: Saturday's contest between the Redhawks and Sooners will be the first NCAA Tournament game that features two players with very high rebounding averages. Southeast senior center Lachelle Lyles currently leads all of NCAA Division I with an average of 17.2 boards per game, while Oklahoma sophomore center Courtney Paris is averaging 16.2 caroms a game to ranks second behind Lyles.
M-V-P, M-V-P!!!: Sophomore Sonya Daugherty claimed Most Valuable Player honors at the OVC Tournament on March 3 after scoring a game-high 18 points to lead the Redhawks past Murray State for their second consecutive title in Nashville. The 5-7 guard from St. Louis averaged 18 points a game in tournament play and scored 20 points in Southeast's 57-51 semifinal win over Samford on March 2. Daugherty currently leads on the team in scoring (13.8 ppg), while ranking second in steals (43) and third in field-goal percentage (.414).
CHICAGO'S PUBLIC CONNECTION: Players from both teams will represent two of the top schools in the talent-laden Chicago Public League in Austin this Saturday. Southeast senior Lachelle Lyles is a 2002 graduate of John Hope College Prep, whom she helped to a pair of Public League semifinal appearances in addition to earning All-City honors. Oklahoma freshman Amanda Thompson captured two Public League titles and IHSA Class AA third-place finishes in her final two years at Whitney Young, while earning All-City and All-State honors in the process.
SOMETHING IN COMMON: Southeast and Oklahoma have faced three common opponents this season in Baylor, Eastern Kentucky and Tulsa. The Redhawks posted a season sweep of EKU in OVC play, while losing non-conference contests to Baylor and Tulsa. The Sooners went 2-0 against their Big 12 foe in addition to collecting wins over the Lady Colonels and Golden Hurricane in non-conference play.
UP NEXT: With a win, the Redhawks would advance to the second round of NCAA Tournament, where they would face either sixth-seeded Marquette or 11th-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette Monday night in Austin.
