OU Women Gear Up for NCAA Tournament

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- There will be more NCAA Tournament basketball in Norman on Sunday. The University of Oklahoma is hosting a first-round women's regional at the Lloyd Noble Center. But just two decades ago this type of an event in Norman was inconceivable, but the OU women's program has come a long way since then.

These days the OU women play before large crowds, but it wasn't always that way. One player from the early '80s remembers all too well what fan support was like back then.

"They wouldn't even bother to light up the upper decks, and we might have anywhere from 50-100 people on a normal night," OU player from 1981-82 Lisa Buckelew said.

The players even handled some team publicity.

"These are the season schedules that we would hope to get some fans, and we would go, you know, to the local restaurants and put a stack of them by the cash register, hoping people would pick them up," Buckelew said.

Things got so bad that 20 years ago, in March 1990, OU announced it was dropping women's basketball.

"Some of the guys came in from the lounge and said, 'The University of Oklahoma just dropped their women's basketball program,'" said OU Women's Head Basketball Coach Sherri Coale. "And I said, 'No, they didn't.' They said, 'Yes, they did. We just heard it on the radio.' And I said, 'Well, they can't.' And they said, 'Well, they just did.' And I said, 'Well, trust me, they can't.'"

Coale was right. In a few days, after viewing campus protests and reflecting on Title 9 implications, OU changed its mind.

The program was back, but the OU women didn't start collecting much in the way of trophies, let alone national recognition, until after 1996. That's when OU hired an English teacher and women's basketball coach at Norman High School, Sherri Coale.

There were doubters who wondered if a high school coach could have success at the collegiate level. Coale ignored them, and now the banners in the Lloyd Noble Center say all that needs to be said about the success of her program.

"Repetitive Final Fours, obviously, unbelievably difficult to get to the Final Four, unbelievably difficult, so we'd like to continue to do that, but ultimately we want to win our last game," Coale said.

Things have changed since Lisa Buckelew played for OU.

"It's fantastic, it's just night and day difference to have, you know, all the girls that are coming up now look to this program to be where they want to be, and to come and watch, to come to the games and watch them, it's just fantastic," Buckelew said.

On Sunday the OU Women will play South Dakota State in the late game, which starts at about 8:30 p.m. and tickets are still available.

For more NCAA Tournament coverage, go to OKBlitz.com.