No. 9 Women's Hoops Plays Field Trip Game on Wednesday

NORMAN – Undefeated and ranked No. 9, Oklahoma returns to the court Wednesday morning to host Western Carolina at Lloyd Noble Center. This game is the program's annual Field Trip Day, welcoming over 6,000 K-12 students from across the state to Norman for a day of education, basketball and fun. Tip is set for 10:30 a.m. CT on SEC Network+.

The Sooners welcome the Catamounts (3-0) who are off to their best start since the 2015-16 season.

The game will be aired on 1520 KOKC with Brian Brinkley and Tyler Neal on the call.

FAN INFO

The game marks the program's annual Field Trip/Education Day as K-12 students will be in attendance for the morning tip. Students and their teachers will be in pre-assigned seating.

Lower-level sections 121-123 are reserved for season ticket holders and their guests. Season ticket holders may also sit in upper-level sections 201-204, 211-214 and 226-227. All guests (non-students and teachers) must enter through the north entrance of the arena.

Season ticket holders can pick up their free Watch More OU Women's Basketball shirts on the south concourse before the game.

Doors to the arena open one hour before tip for the general public, and the Lloyd Noble Center's clear-bag policy is in effect.

THE STARTING FIVE

Raegan Beers swept national and SEC honors on Tuesday after averaging 23.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per game in week one. The junior All-American was named AP National Player of the Week, SEC Player of the Week and to the USBWA National Starting Five. Beers is the first Oklahoma women's basketball player to earn an SEC weekly award and the first Sooner since Courtney Paris to win a national player of the week honor. This marks her seventh career weekly award, adding to six Pac-12 honors earned at Oregon State. Also, Beers was named to the 15-player watch list for the Wade Trophy, awarded annually to the country's best player.
Through two games this season, Oklahoma ranks second nationally in rebounds per game (60.0) and is in the top 15 for defensive field goal percentage (26.7%). The Sooners' average margin of victory (38.0) is 31st in Division I, fueled by a top-50 scoring offense (85.5 PPG) and top-40 defense (47.5 PPG).
This week, Oklahoma climbed to ninth in both the AP Top 25 and WBCA Coaches polls, marking its highest ranking since finishing fourth in the final poll of 2009.
The Sooners have won five straight Field Trip Day games.
Oklahoma was picked to finish fourth in both the SEC media and coaches' preseason polls. Notably, in Coach Baranczyk's three previous seasons at OU, her teams have outperformed their preseason projections. Across her 12-year head coaching career (nine seasons at Drake and three at OU), Baranczyk's teams have met or exceeded preseason expectations in 10 seasons.

LAST TIME OUT

Raegan Beers had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 10 Oklahoma beat Virginia 95-51 on Friday night in the second game for both teams. Sahara Williams scored 14 points for the Sooners (2-0), who led 44-27 at halftime and 90-48 midway through the fourth quarter. Payton Verhulst added 13 points, and Skylar Vann had eight points and 10 rebounds. Beers, a transfer center from Oregon State, made 11 of 16 field goals. She also had two assists and blocked two shots.

SERIES HISTORY

Wednesday's game is the first ever meeting between Oklahoma and Western Carolina. The Sooners are 3-1 all-time vs. teams from the Southern Conference (SoCon).

UP NEXT

The Sooners hit the road for a five-game stretch away from Lloyd Noble Center, beginning Nov. 19 at Wichita State.

OU's next home game is slated for 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 against Alabama State.

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