Oklahoma s Sherri Coale retires after 25 seasons, 3 Final Four appearances
By The Athletic Staff
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Oklahoma women s basketball coach Sherri Coale retired on Wednesday, ending a 25-year tenure with the Sooners that included three Final Four appearances.
Coale, 56, led Oklahoma to a 512-293 record. The Sooners reached 19 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2000-18, won six Big 12 regular-season titles and four Big 12 tournaments.
Oklahoma reached the Final Four in 2002, 2009 and 2010, losing in the 2002 national championship game to Connecticut.
Coale was inducted into the Women s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. The Sooners went 12-12 in her final season.
Coale s legacy at Oklahoma
Jason Kersey, Oklahoma beat writer: Coale s impact at Oklahoma is monumental, even if things tailed off over the last few years. There had been plans to shutter the entire women s basketball program before she was hired. Six years later, OU was playing UConn in the national championship game.
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Paige Bueckers came to Connecticut with a lot of hype surrounding her.
The freshman guard has lived up to it so far, delivering record-breaking performances and earning a spot on The Associated Press women s basketball All-American team Wednesday. She s only the third freshman to make the AP team, joining Oklahoma s Courtney Paris and UConn s Maya Moore.
Bueckers received 28 first place votes from the national panel of 30 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll. She was joined by Dana Evans of Louisville, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, Rhyne Howard of Kentucky and NaLyssa Smith of Baylor.
Mar 17, 2021
Sherri Coale, who saved the Oklahoma women’s basketball program when she was hired in 1996 and then took it to unforeseen heights announced her retirement on Wednesday.
Coale, 56, won 513 career victories in her 25 seasons at the OU helm, a figure that ranks 72nd all-time among Division I coaches, and is tied for 31st among active coaches.
Coale, 56, has coached 28 of the 37 players in OU’s 1,000-point club.
Three straight years of poor basketball and three straight years outside the NCAA Tournament eventually caught up. Her last game was an overtime loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament on Friday night, and Coale, perhaps knowing it was the end, answered several questions with a tear in her eye.
UConn frosh Paige Bueckers leads women s AP All-America team
DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer
March 17, 2021
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1of15FILE - Connecticut s Paige Bueckers, right, dances over to teammates while celebrating an NCAA college basketball game win in the Big East tournament finals against Marquette at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn, in this Monday, March 8, 2021, file photo. Bueckers has made The Associated Press All-America first team, announced Wednesday, March 17, 2021.Jessica Hill/APShow MoreShow Less
2of15FILE - Kentucky s Rhyne Howard (10) shoots near South Carolina s Eniya Russel during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., in this Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021, file photo. Howard made The Associated Press All-America first team, announced Wednesday, March 17, 2021.James Crisp/APShow MoreShow Less
Women’s college notebook: UConn freshman leads AP All-America team
Paige Bueckers lived up to high expectations to become just the third freshman named to the AP first team.
Associated Press
Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Paige Bueckers came to Connecticut with a lot of hype surrounding her.
The freshman guard has lived up to it so far, delivering record-breaking performances and earning a spot on The Associated Press women’s basketball All-American team Wednesday. She’s only the third freshman to make the AP team, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and UConn’s Maya Moore.
Bueckers received 28 first-place votes from the national panel of 30 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll. She was joined by Dana Evans of Louisville, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, Rhyne Howard of Kentucky and NaLyssa Smith of Baylor.