By Clay Horning
Here’s one scenario Sherri Coale might conceivably fall into.
Oklahoma’s women’s basketball coach might not exactly forget she’s got five new and talented faces on her Sooner bench, but in the exciting midst of returning five starters as well as Ashley Paris and Krista Sanchez she might leave them tethered to the bench, unable to get away from the rotation that claimed 19 straight Big 12 contests last season.
Conceivable, perhaps, but Coale knows it doesn’t apply.
In fact, she says she’s more apt to go the other way, playing some combination of Nyeshia Stevenson, Abi Olajuwon, Jenna Plumley, Amanda Thompson and Rose Hammond as often as she can beginning at 7 tonight in the Sooners’ first of two exhibition contests, against Lake Truck.
“If I get to see what I need to see from my veterans early,” Coale said. “then we may spend a lot of time with those guys.”
Coale will start Courtney Paris in the middle, Brittany Brown at the point, Erin Higgins and Chelsi Welch at the wings and Leah Rush at power forward, but she’s more than eager to get the newcomers into the game, with each other as well as the veterans.
And tonight is the first of not too many nights Coale can pull the strings of her youngsters without risk. Another comes Tuesday when the Sooners play their final exhibition against Missouri Western State. After that it’s the season opener against perennial national power DePaul at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 12.
There may be other games the Sooners need not worry about being challenged, but not very many — home games against Northern Colorado and Arkansas-Pine Bluff are the only two that really stick out — before the conference season begins Jan. 3 against Kansas State.
Here’s a rundown of the newcomers:
n Plumley is a 5-foot-4 point guard from Frontier who won the 3-point shooting contest at he baseline bash.
n Olajuwon is a 6-4 post whose father, Hakeem Olajuwon, will be inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame just as soon as he becomes eligible.
n Thompson is a 6-foot forward from Chicago with an ability to take defenders and get to the paint off the dribble.
n Stevenson is a very athletic 5-9 forward from Little Rock, Ark.
n Hammond is a 5-9 guard from Depew.
“I think she’s just going to be testing a lot of combinations,” said Rush, who has been impressed by all the freshmen, of Coale.
In fact, Rush said, there will be times fans might wonder why the freshmen aren’t starting, but other times they might wonder why they’re even in the game.
“I think they’re tremendously talented,” Rush said. “But they’re freshmen at the same time and they’ve got to learn.”
They’ve been getting their feet wet in practice for a couple of weeks now. Tonight, they finally get to face another team with fans in the Lloyd Noble Center stands.
“They’re real excited,” Coale said of the newcomers. “They’re passionate. They’re fired up.”
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
