Sooners to Face South Dakota State in Norman Sunday

Originally Published: Mar 15, 2010 6:28 PM CDT

Stephany Speck
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Third-seeded Oklahoma will face 14th-seeded South Dakota State in Norman March 21 in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.

The Sooners went 23-10 on the season, while Jackrabbits went 22-10, winning the Summit League Championship over Oral Roberts last week.

Head coach Sherri Coale’s knows here squad will have home-court advantage against the Jackrabbits.

“I love the fact that we’re staying in the Midwest,” Coale said. “I really love the fact that if we can play well enough to win two at the Lloyd Noble Center, we can go onto Kansas City.”

Senior Amanda Thompson said she’s looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd.

“I think it’s a huge advantage,” Thompson said. “Our fans have been great his whole year, and I’m excited to play in front of them again.”

Teammate Danielle Robinson echoed Thompson’s excitement about staying local.

“It’ll be nice for our fans to be able to be here for a while,” Robinson said. “They’ll be able to be here for two games before we have to go anywhere. It helps a lot.”

The Sooners had a successful run in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, beating Baylor 59-54 on Friday and in-state rival, Oklahoma State 74-69 on Saturday.

Oklahoma came away disappointed Sunday, dropping the Big 12 Conference Championship game to Texas A&M, 74-67.

The Sooners tip off against the Jackrabbits at 9:30 p.m.