WOMEN'S BB: Sooners Schedule Eases...Somewhat

Sherri Coale said she was going to beef up the schedule and she did. The Sooners' first two games, both losses, were against No. 1 Tennessee and No. 3 Maryland. The schedule gets a little easier this week when Oklahoma travels to Cancun for the Caribbean Challenge. There, the Sooners take on No. 14 Arizona State and Mississippi State.

Oklahoma’s run through the gauntlet isn’t over – only the toughest part.

The Sooners continue their torturous early-season schedule – and their extensive travel - on Thanksgiving Day when they play No. 14 Arizona State at 3 p.m. in the Caribbean Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.

A day later they’ll play Mississippi State at 1 p.m.

Tenth-ranked Oklahoma enters the Challenge 0-2, but don’t let the record fool you. The Sooners have opened the season against the last two national champions.

Sherri Coale’s squad opened up Nov. 11 with a 76-66 loss to No. 3 Maryland at the State Farm Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. Four days later, they were much more impressive in a 70-67 loss to No. 1 and defending national champ Tennessee.

Arizona State enters the Challenge with a 2-1 record. After a season-opening loss the Sun Devils defeated UC Santa Barbara (66-42) and Yale (84-38).

Mississippi State is currently 4-0 with easy wins over Southeastern Louisiana (71-55), Centenary (76-57), Belmont (66-51) and Mercer (89-51).

The Bulldogs will play Iowa to open the Caribbean Challenge on Thursday.

The Sooners can see some light at the end of the tunnel. They make their home debut at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 against North Texas.

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It’s no surprise that junior All-American Courtney Paris is leading the team in points (15.0) and rebounds (12.5). With her 19-point, 15-rebound performance against Tennessee, Paris extended her NCAA record double-double streak to 63. She has 68 double-doubles in 71 career games.

Twin sister Ashley Paris is averaging 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Freshman Danielle Robinson has been a pleasant surprise. She got her first start against Tennessee and responded with 14 points, four steals and four assists. Through two games, she is second on the team in points (14.5), and leads in assists (4.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (8-3) and steals (3.5).

The 5-foot-9 guard, a San Jose, Calif., native, was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Co-Rookie of the Week for her efforts. She shared it with Texas forward Kathleen Nash.