# 2008–09 Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team

The 2008–09 Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Sooners were coached by Sherri Coale. The Sooners are a member of the Big Twelve Conference and qualified for the Final Four.

## Preseason
### Exhibition

| Date | Location | Opponent | Sooners Points | Opp. Points | Record |
| Nov. 6/08 | | Western State | | | |
| Nov. 11/08 | | Oklahoma Christian | | | |

### Preseason WNIT

| Date | Location | Opponent | Sooners Points | Opp. Points | Record |
| Nov. 15/08 | Norman, OK | UC Riverside | 88 | 57 | 1-0 |
| Nov. 19/08 | Norman, OK | Middle Tennessee | 85 | 65 | 2-0 |
| Nov. 21/08 | Norman, OK | Arizona State | 70 | 57 | 3-0 |
| Nov. 23/08 | Norman, OK | North Carolina | 79 | 80 | 3-1 |

## Regular season

* Reserve Nyeshia Stevenson hit back-to-back 3-pointers and gave Oklahoma (ranked No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, ranked No. 5 in the AP poll) its first lead of the game with 3:43 to play. The Sooners made an improbable comeback from a 26-point halftime deficit to shock the California Golden Bears (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) 86-75 on Saturday night in the Basketball By The Bay Classic.
Cal led by 17 points, 69-52, before Oklahoma (8-2) closed the game with a 34-6 run. Stevenson finished with 21 points and Courtney Paris had 18 points and 13 rebounds to extend her consecutive streak of double-doubles dating to her freshman season to 102 games in Oklahoma's third straight victory since their loss to top-ranked Connecticut on Nov. 30. Cal had won the only other two meetings with Oklahoma but this marked the first matchup between the schools since Nov. 28, 1987, when the Bears won 81-66 in the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu.
* January 4: The Sooners set a new school record for fewest points allowed in an 89-25 drubbing of North Carolina Central on Saturday. Whitney Hand scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the opening half and Oklahoma blew out to a 50-15 lead in the first half.
Five Sooners scored in double-figures, including Courtney Paris, who finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds in only 22 minutes to stretch her NCAA record streak of consecutive double-doubles to 105 games.

### Roster

| Number | Name | Height | Position | Class |
| 1 | Nyeshia Stevenson | 5-9 | Forward/Guard | Junior |
| 3 | Courtney Paris | 6-4 | Center | Senior |
| 4 | Abi Olajuwon | 6-4 | Center | Junior |
| 5 | Ashley Paris | 6-3 | Forward | Senior |
| 10 | Carlee Roethlisberger | 6-1 | Forward | Sophomore |
| 13 | Danielle Robinson | 5-9 | Guard | Sophomore |
| 14 | Lauren Willis | 5-11 | Guard | Sophomore |
| 15 | Carolyn Winchester | 5-11 | Forward | Senior |
| 21 | Amanda Thompson | 6-0 | Forward | Junior |
| 25 | Whitney Hand | 6-1 | Guard | Freshman |
| 31 | Rose Hammond | 5-9 | Guard | Junior |
| 45 | Jasmine Hartman | 5-10 | Guard | Freshman |
| 53 | Jenny Vining | 5-9 | Guard | Sophomore |

### Schedule

| Date | Location | Opponent | Sooners Points | Opp. Points | Record |
| Nov. 26/08 | Norman | Marist | 83 | 57 | 1-0 |
| Nov. 30/08 | Storrs, CT | Connecticut | 78 | 106 | 1-1 |
| Dec. 3/08 | Norman | Creighton | 69 | 49 | 2-1 |
| Dec. 7/08 | Jonesboro, AR | Arkansas State | 87 | 57 | 3-1 |
| Dec. 12/08 | San Jose, CA | Cal State Bakersfield | 105 | 84 | 4-1 |
| Dec. 13/08 | San Jose, CA | California | 86 | 75 | 5-1 |
| Dec. 21/08 | Norman | Tulsa | 94 | 42 | 6-1 |
| Dec. 30/08 | St. Louis, MO | Saint Louis | 87 | 61 | 7-1 |
| Jan. 04/09 | Norman | NC Central | 89 | 25 | 8-1 |
| Jan. 10/09 | Lincoln, NE | Nebraska | 77 | 56 | 9-1 |
| Jan. 14/09 | Norman | Kansas State | 64 | 48 | 10-1 |
| Jan. 18/09 | Norman | Texas A&M | 71 | 59 | 11-1 |
| Jan. 21/09 | Boulder, CO | Colorado | 72 | 58 | 12-1 |
| Jan. 25/09 | Norman | Texas | 89 | 69 | 13-1 |
| Jan. 28/09 | Waco, TX | Baylor | 56 | 51 | 14-1 |
| Jan. 31/09 | Norman | Missouri | 78 | 56 | 15-1 |
| Feb. 2/09 | Oklahoma City | Tennessee | 80 | 70 | 16-1 |
| Feb. 8/09 | Stillwater, OK | Oklahoma State | 93 | 75 | 17-1 |
| Feb. 11/09 | Norman | Iowa State | 58 | 49 | 18-1 |
| Feb. 14/09 | Lawrence, KS | Kansas | 69 | 54 | 19-1 |

#### Notes

* Abi Olajuwon scored season-high seven points in 12 minutes versus Cal State Bakersfield on December 12. She grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds against North Carolina Central on January 4.
* Carlee Roethlisberger scored a season-high 12 points versus Arizona State on November 21.
* Nyeshia Steveson shot 44.0 percent from the field, including a 36.4 percent (51-of-140) mark from 3-point range, and was 42-of-69 (.609) from the free throw line. She was named Big 12 Player of the Week following her remarkable play at the Basketball by the Bay Classic in San Jose, California on December 12 and 13. Stevenson scored a career-high 23 points and five assists in rout of Cal State Bakersfield on December 12. She led OU's NCAA-record comeback victory against California on December 13) with a 21-point performance. All the points were scored in the second half, including the game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning field goals

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Minutes | Field Goals | Three Pointers | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Courtney Paris | 37 | 1072 | 236 | 0 | 116 | 503 | 57 | 108 | 34 | 588 |
| Danielle Robinson | 37 | 1116 | 180 | 0 | 119 | 106 | 217 | 3 | 82 | 479 |
| Ashley Paris | 37 | 1125 | 196 | 1 | 73 | 355 | 61 | 32 | 28 | 466 |
| Nyeshia Stevenson | 37 | 755 | 124 | 51 | 42 | 64 | 45 | 6 | 41 | 341 |
| Whitney Hand | 33 | 953 | 106 | 62 | 29 | 97 | 54 | 17 | 40 | 303 |
| Amanda Thompson | 36 | 786 | 104 | 7 | 29 | 164 | 67 | 31 | 44 | 244 |
| Carlee Roethlisberger | 37 | 482 | 54 | 19 | 16 | 59 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 143 |
| Jenny Vining | 35 | 457 | 39 | 30 | 8 | 28 | 24 | 2 | 7 | 116 |
| Jasmine Hartman | 35 | 332 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 29 | 38 | 5 | 11 | 69 |
| Abi Olajuwon | 27 | 162 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 59 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 37 |
| Lauren Willis | 15 | 65 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Rose Hammond | 18 | 71 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Carolyn Winchester | 8 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |

## Postseason
### NCAA basketball tournament

* Oklahoma Cit Regional
** Oklahoma 76, Prairie View 47
** Oklahoma 69, Georgia Tech 50
** Oklahoma 70, Pittsburgh 59
** Oklahoma 74, Purdue 68
* Final Four
** Louisville 61, Oklahoma 59

## Awards and honors

* Nyeshia Stevenson, Big 12 Sixth Man Award
* Nyeshia Stevenson, Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 15, 2009)
* Nyeshia Stevenson, Led Big 12 in 3-point percentage during conference play with .414 percentage.
* Nyeshia Stevenson, OU record streak of nine consecutive games making at least one 3-pointer (Dec. 3 vs. Creighton to Jan. 14 vs. Kansas State)

## Team players drafted into the WNBA

| Round | Pick | Player | WNBA Club |
| 1 | 7 | Courtney Paris | Sacramento Monarchs |
| 2 | 22 | Ashley Paris | Los Angeles Sparks |