Looking for signs Prairie View A&M; might give Oklahoma a game in the No. 16 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma City Regional matchup, set to tip off at 6 p.m. Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena? Well, stop.
The best thing the Panthers have going for them is a two -point (58-56) loss at Rutgers (the Scarlet Knights are the No. 7-seed at the Oklahoma City Regional). And if that’s impressive, what the Panthers have done against common opponents with the Sooners isn’t so much. Prairie View lost to Iowa State 75-59 at a tournament in Hawaii Nov. 28 and lost 72-55 at Texas Tech Dec. 18. In three games against ISU and Tech, OU won by nine, eight and 12 points.
The best player on the Panther bench may be the coach. Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is a two-time WNBA MVP who led the Houston Comets to four straight WNBA titles. She seems to have this coaching thing down pretty well, leading Prairie View to three straight SWAC titles.
Nice schedule
Over the course of a thus-far 28-4 season, OU has played 12 NCAA Tournament teams, going 12-4 against those teams (the Sooners played Texas and Baylor twice and Texas A&M; three times).
The losses came to Connecticut, North Carolina and Texas A&M; (twice). The wins came over Marist, Cal, Arizona State, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, Texas (twice), Baylor (twice), Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas A&M.;
Nice resume
This is Sherri Coale’s 13th season as OU head coach. She won five games her first season, eight her second and 15 her third. Ever since, 10 times, the Sooners have gone to the NCAA Tournament.
Five times they’ve reached the Sweet 16. One time, 2002, they reached the Final Four.
Eight times the program has won at least 20 games. If OU reaches the Sweet 16, Coale will have her third 30-win season.
Road game
If OU and Iowa (over Georgia Tech) both win their opener Sunday, the two will play Tuesday on the Hawkeyes’ home court, where Iowa, which tied for second in the Big 10, has won 13 of 14 games this season, including 13 straight.
Iowa is 2-1 all-time vs. OU, but lost the last meeting, 85-68 Nov. 25, 2005, at the Odwalla Classic.
OU Sports
Meet the Panthers
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