SATURDAY'S GAME PLAN
• Dayton Region 6-seed Oklahoma plays 2-seed Notre Dame in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Championship Saturday, March 26, at approximately 1:30 p.m. Central at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
• ESPN will televised the game with Dave Fleming and Rebecca Lobo calling the action and Todd Harris reporting from sideline.
• The Sooner Sports Network radio broadcast with Brian Brinkley will be on KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City.
• Oklahoma advanced after defeating (11) James Madison, 86-72, and (3) Miami, 88-83 in Charlottesville, Va.

The Teams
• Oklahoma is ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
• Notre Dame is No. 9 in the AP and No. 7 in the Coaches' Poll.
• Oklahoma is 27-13 all-time in the NCAA Championship, 3-5 in the Sweet 16 and 3-0 in the Elite Eight. OU is 3-5 when playing a lower seeded opponent.

The Coaches
• Sherri Coale is 336-154 (.686) in her 15th season at Oklahoma. She has been the Big 12 Coach of the Year four times.
• Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is 553-210 (.725) in her 24th season at Notre Dame and 641-251 (.719).

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA
The Sooners enter the 2011 NCAA Championship following back-to-back trips to the Final Four. OU returns eight letterwinners, including three with starting experience, and introduces five newcomers. Oklahoma finished third in the Big 12 this season and posted its sixth-straight 20-win season.

OU has one of the premier backcourts in the country with preseason All-American Danielle Robinson leading the team with 18.4 points and 5.1 assists per game and freshman Aaryn Ellenberg adding 16.4 points.

Redshirt-sophomore Whitney Hand, the 2009 Big 12 Freshman of the Year who suffered an ACL injury five games into the 2009-10 season returned to action on Jan. 2 and contributes 12.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

High school All-American Nicole Griffin cracked the starting lineup on Feb. 12 and has provided a reliable post presence.

20 for 2011
Oklahoma reached 20 wins for the sixth consecutive season. OU has recorded all 10 of Sherri Coale's 20-win seasons in the past 12 years and has 16 total in the program's history.

	Sooner to Watch  Whitney Hand | So. (RS) | Guard Hand shook off pain from her surgically-repaired knee to score back-to-back career highs in the first and second rounds. Hand led both games, putting 24 on the scoreboard against James Madison and then adding 27 in the win over Miami.

PREVIEWING THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Oklahoma is the 6 seed and plays its regional semifinal game in Dayton, Ohio, against 2-seed Notre Dame.

Oklahoma is appearing in its 14th NCAA Championship and 12th consecutive, the eighth longest active streak. OU has a 27-13 record in the tournament; is 11-2 in the first round; 9-3 in the second; 3-5 in the Sweet 16; 3-0 in the Elite Eight; 1-2 in the Final Four; and 0-1 in the National Championship (2002).

The Sooners have been to back-to-back Final Fours and is one of six teams to have advanced to three in the past 10 years. OU has advanced past the second round in four of its last five appearances with the only exception an overtime loss to Notre Dame in the 2008 second round.

OU and Notre Dame have met three times in the past four seasons, with two of those games in the NCAA tournament and two games going to overtime. The Sooners and Fighting Irish met twice last season with Notre Dame winning the November matchup and OU winning in the Sweet 16.

What to watch for:
• OU was 8-8 against its 10 opponents selected to the field of 64, including a 2-2 record against non-conference opponents. After the second round, only four of those opponents remain, against which the Sooners had an 0-7 record.
• Danielle Robinson matched former Sooner Caton Hill, who had 139 starts in 140 games, for the OU and Big 12 records in the second round game Tuesday. Robinson's 139 starts have come consecutively.
• Robinson crossed the 800 field goal and 500 free throw milestones Tuesday, as well as going two points over 200 in her NCAA tournament career.
• In the NCAA First Round, Aaryn Ellenberg set OU's single season record for 3-pointers, passing the 88 made by Erin Higgins in 2005-06, and currently has 93. Notre Dame's entire team has 119.

Robinson Joins an Exclusive Club
Danielle Robinson crossed the 2,000-point plateau against Colorado (Feb. 23) and became the third top-level women's college basketball player, and the second in NCAA Division I competition, to total 2,000 points, 700 assists and 300 steals in a career, in OU's Big 12 Championship semifinal game against Texas A&M. Previously, only Dawn Staley and Nancy Lieberman had reached those benchmarks. In the NCAA second round, Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot passed the 2,000-point benchmark to join the club.

• Players with 2,000 Points/700 Assists/300 Steals
Nancy Lieberman, Old Dominion (1977-80): 2,430 points, 961 assists, 512 steals*
Dawn Staley, Virginia (1989-92): 2,135 points, 729 assists, 454 steals
Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma (2008-11): 2,122 points, 721 assists, 306 steals
Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga (2008-11): 2,040 points, 1,102 assists, 257 steals
*Pre-NCAA statistics

Ellenberg Sets OU 3-Point Records
Aaryn Ellenberg hit her 89th 3-pointer in OU's NCAA First Round game and now has 93, setting an OU single-season record by passing the 88 made by Erin Higgins in 2005-06. Ellenberg already had OU freshman records for 3-point makes and attempts. Her 233 attempts is third most ever at OU and her 39.9 3-point percentage would be ninth best if the season ended today.