Norman — Regular seasons are not created equal.
Some are good, some are bad and some are in the middle, yet a good one doesn’t necessarily prepare a team for the rigors of the postseason. By the same token, a middle of the road season can go a long way toward battle testing a squad.
Where to categorize the Oklahoma women’s regular season in terms of raw success is a very subjective judgment.
The Sooners have lost nine games, which is plenty for a Sherri Coale-coached squad. And yet the nation believes in the Sooners, as the pollsters, media and coaches, continue to rank them No. 12.
Whether that’s right or not can be argued. What’s hard to argue is whether or not the Sooners are prepared.
OU begins the Big 12 tournament at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. today against Baylor. The No. 3 seed in the tourney, the Sooners received a draw into the quarterfinal round. Baylor had to knock off Colorado 72-65 Thursday night to advance.
It will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams and OU should be ready … for anything.
“I don’t know what else we could ask for that we haven’t seen,” Coale said before departing for Kansas City. “The type of schedule we’ve played, the places we’ve been, the types of games that we’ve been in … we’ve seen about all there is to see.”
The campaign has been laced with great variance, though the Sooners appear to be in a fine spot with nothing but tourney games, conference and NCAA, still to play.
n They’ve gone toe-to-toe with the nation’s No. 1 team, unbeaten Connecticut, about as well as anybody this season.
n They’ve come from 16 points down in the second half to defeat Arkansas on their home floor and they’ve come from 21 points down in the second half to defeat Kansas State on the Wildcats’ floor.
n They answered their most disheartening defeat of the season, an 18-point Texas win at Lloyd Noble Center, with some of their very best basketball, including a 15-point win in the return game at Austin.
n They answered their most lopsided loss of the season, 78-55 at Texas A&M, with quite possibly their finest game of the season, their last one, 95-62 over Oklahoma State.
“We’ve competed against the No. 1 team, the undefeated teams. I just feel like we’re prepared for anything anybody can bring,” team captain Amanda Thompson said. “I mean, we’re even prepared for our bad games, because we know if we’re not shooting well, we’ve got to (do) other things to make sure we’re successful.”
They have plenty to play for.
The Sooners would like nothing more than to surprise everybody by winning yet another Big 12 tournament championship, especially if it means knocking off No. 3 and unbeaten Nebraska.
They can also help themselves when it comes to NCAA seedling. OU’s RPI remains sky high at No. 7, but a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament, assuming there’s one available, might well require a championship run beginning tonight.
“The motivation is to keep those Big 12 championships coming in every year,” Thompson said. “Coach Coale has really made that a point of emphasis. That’s what we do around here.”
Anyway, they ought to be prepared.
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
