The Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team represents the University of Oklahoma (OU) and competes in NCAA Division I as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

History

OU women's basketball began during the 1974–75 academic year. In March 1990, Oklahoma officials released a statement saying that the women's basketball program was to be dropped, after many years of sub-par performance and low attendance. Many people voiced their complaints, and eight days later, OU reinstated the program.SoonerSports.com. When It Was Dropped. OU Women's Basketball 2006 Media Guide. University of Oklahoma. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. At the time, the average attendance per game was 65 people. In 1996, Oklahoma hired former Norman High School women's basketball coach Sherri Coale to the same position at the university. The Sooner women's basketball team developed in years since to status as a leader in attendance across the nation. The Sooners averaged attendance of 6,851 in 2011–12 at home games, and the support for the sport led to Oklahoma hosting first- and second-round games in the Women's NCAA Basketball Championships at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The Sooners also set a record on February 2, 2009, when they played host to the number 13 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, led by coach Pat Summit, who was trying to get career victory 1,000, something that no other coach had done before. The attendance for that game, which was held at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, was close to 13,000 as well as setting a record for the most watched women's basketball game in history. The Sooners led the Big 12 Conference in attendance as well. As with the men's team, they call Lloyd Noble Center home.

The program gained national prominence during the 2002 post-season when they advanced to the national title game and lost to the University of Connecticut Huskies. In the 2005–06 season, the Sooners were led by their coach Sherri Coale and the nationally known sophomore twins Courtney and Ashley Paris, daughters of former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Bubba Paris, to the third round of the national tournament. The team also won the Big 12 regular-season championship (with a 16–0 conference record) and the Big 12 Tournament. They became the first Big 12 women's basketball team to remain undefeated throughout conference play.

In the 2008–09 season, the Sooners made it to the Final Four of the 2009 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. They advanced through the Oklahoma City Regional, where they enjoyed considerable home court advantage, as Norman and Oklahoma City are separated by fewer than 20 miles.

The 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons failed to result in regional championships and NCAA Final Four appearances. Playing through rigorous non-conference schedules and a rugged Big 12 slate, the Sooners received No. 6 seeds each of the two years. The 10–11 team advanced through the Charlottesville, Virginia, first and second round site with a win over nearby James Madison University and an upset win over the University of Miami Hurricanes. The season came to an abrupt halt in Dayton, Ohio, in the Sweet Sixteen, with the team falling to No. 2 seed Notre Dame, which steamrolled to a national championship appearance that year. The 11–12 team failed to make it past the No. 3 seed St. John's Red Storm in a 74–70 defeat in front of several thousand Sooner fans in Norman, Oklahoma. St. Johns lost in the Sweet Sixteen to the Duke Blue Devils in Fresno, California.

Oklahoma City hosted an NCAA regional in March 2013.

The 2012–13 Sooners missed graduating senior Jelena Serena, but retained the rest of the team. Adding to the corps were two National Top 20 recruits, Maddie Manning and Nicole Kornet, and Sooners Jasmine Hartman and Lyndsey Cloman rejoined the active roster. Both Hartman and Cloman sat out the entire 2011–12 season with injuries.

Conference affiliations Prior to joining the SEC, Oklahoma has played in the Big Eight and the Big 12 conferences. The Sooners joined the Big 12 in 1996 when the Big Eight and four members of the Southwest Conference created the Big 12. Oklahoma has been affiliated with the following conferences:

Big Eight Conference 1982–1996 Conference dissolved Big 12 Conference 1996–2024 Joined SEC Southeastern Conference 2024–present

Coaches

Since its formation in 1974, the team has been led by nine different head coaches. Since 2021, Jennie Baranczyk has served as the head coach of the program.

Championships

Conference regular season Season Coach Conference Overall record Conference record 1985–86 Maura McHugh Big Eight 24–7 10–4 1999–2000§ Sherri Coale Big 12 25–8 13–3 2000–01 Sherri Coale Big 12 28–6 15–1 2001–02 Sherri Coale Big 12 32–4 14–2 2005–06 Sherri Coale Big 12 31–5 16–0 2006–07§ Sherri Coale Big 12 28–5 13–3 2008–09 Sherri Coale Big 12 32–5 15–1 2022–23§ Jennie Baranczyk Big 12 26–7 14–4 2023–24 Jennie Baranczyk Big 12 23–10 15–3Conference regular season championships9 § – Conference co-champions

Conference tournament championships Year Coach Opponent Score Site Conference Overall record Conference record 2002 Sherri Coale 84–69 Kansas City, Missouri Big 12 32–4 14–2 2004 Sherri Coale 66–47 Dallas, Texas Big 12 24–9 9–7 2006 Sherri Coale 72–61 Dallas, Texas Big 12 31–5 16–0 2007 Sherri Coale 67–60 Oklahoma City, OK Big 12 28–5 13–3 Conference tournament championships 4

NCAA tournament history The Sooners reached the NCAA tournament and Sweet Sixteen for the first time in 1986. In 1995, Oklahoma made their second trip to the tourney, falling in the second round.

After another break, the Sooners made their third appearance in the 1999–2000 season, and have since become a mainstay in the tournament, entering the field of 64 every year since. In that period, the Sooners have reached three Final Four appearances, which is tied for 9th in NCAA women's basketball history. Since 2002, the Sooners' first appearance, their three appearances ties them for fifth, behind Tennessee (six), Connecticut (five), Stanford (five) and Louisiana State (five).

NCAA tournament results The Sooners have appeared in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 26 times. They have a record of 40–26.

1986 (4) Second RoundSweet Sixteen (5) (1) Texas W 86–67L 59−85 1995 (7) First RoundSecond Round (10) (2) W 90−55L 36–48 2000 (5) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (12) (4) (1) Connecticut W 86–81W 76–74L 80–102 2001 (2) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (15) (10) (6) W 70–64W 67–50L 67–84 2002 (1) First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourTitle Game (16) Hartford(9) (4) (3) (1) Duke(1) Connecticut W 84–52W 66–53W 72–62W 94–60W 86–71L 70–82 2003 (10) First Round (7) L 61–71 2004 (3) First RoundSecond Round (14) (6) W 58−45L 43–68 2005 (8) First Round (9) L 69–72 2006 (2) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (15) (7) (3) W 78–66W 86–70L 74–88 2007 (3) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (14) (6) (7) W 74–60W 78–47L 82–90 2008 (4) First RoundSecond Round (13) (5) W 69−61L 75–79 (OT) 2009 (1) First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four (16) (9) (4) Pittsburgh(6) (3) Louisville W 76–47W 69–50W 70–59W 74–68L 59–61 2010 (3) First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four (14) (11) (2) Notre Dame(4) Kentucky(1) Stanford W 68–57W 60–44W 77–72 (OT)W 88–68L 66–73 2011 (6) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (11) (3) (2) Notre Dame W 86–72W 88–83L 53–78 2012 (6) First RoundSecond Round (11) (3) W 88−67L 70–74 2013 (6) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (11) (3) (2) W 78–73W 85–72L 59–74 2014 (10) First Round (7) DePaul L 100–104 2015 (5) First RoundSecond Round (12) (4) Stanford W 111−84L 76–86 2016 (6) First RoundSecond Round (11) Purdue(3) Kentucky W 61−45L 58–79 2017 (6) First RoundSecond Round (11) Gonzaga(3) Washington W 75−62L 82–108 2018 (12) First Round (5) DePaul L 79–90 2022 (4) First RoundSecond Round (13) IUPUI(5) Notre Dame W 78–72 L 64–108 2023 (5) First RoundSecond Round (13) Portland(4) UCLAW 85–63 L 73–82 2024 (5) First RoundSecond Round (12) Florida Gulf Coast(4) Indiana W 73–70 L 68–75 2025 (3) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (14) Florida Gulf Coast(6) Iowa(2) Connecticut W 81–58W 96–62L 59–82 2026 (4) First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen (13) Idaho(5) Michigan State(1) South Carolina W 89–59W 77–71L 68–94

NCAA tournament seeding history The following lists the years in which the Sooners have been seeded in the NCAA tournament. Years →'86'95'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'22'23'24'25'26Seeds →47521103823413666105661245534

References

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