Paris makes NCAA debut for Sooners against Pepperdine

3/16/2006 1:58 AM

Oklahoma is ready to see how far star freshman Courtney Paris can take it in the NCAA tournament.

Paris makes her NCAA debut for the second-seeded Sooners Saturday when they take on Pepperdine (14-16) at the Pepsi Center in Denver as part of the San Antonio Regional.

Oklahoma (29-4) is one of the nation's hottest teams, winning 17 straight games entering the NCAA tournament. The biggest reason is Paris, who ranks sixth in the country in scoring (21.4) and first in rebounding (15.1).

``I've never had a freshman like Courtney Paris, and I'm not sure there's ever been a freshman like Courtney Paris,'' Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. ``I think her dominance was well reflected in that small little selection show that we had.''

The 6-foot-4 center needs just three rebounds to become the first NCAA player ever to score 700 points, grab 500 rebounds and block 100 shots in a season. The daughter of former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Bubba Paris averaged 19.7 points and 15.0 rebounds in conference play, helping Oklahoma become the first team to go 16-0 in Big 12 play.

Paris, who has already set 36 school records, enters the NCAA tournament with 30 straight double-doubles.

``I'm the kind of person who as much as I like to do what I do and as dominating as I can be, I want to be the best,'' Paris said. ``It's not going to happen and it's impossible, but I'm going to try my hardest to be perfect, and I'm nowhere near that.''

The 17-game winning streak matches the school record set in 2000-01. Oklahoma can also secure its second 30-win season in school history, first accomplishing the feat in 2001-02.

The Sooners haven't lost since a 75-71 defeat Jan. 9 to Ohio State.

Pepperdine (14-16) earned the automatic bid from the West Coast Conference by winning three games in four days in the conference tournament. Daphanie Kennedy, named the tournament MVP, averaged 15.7 points in the event to help the Waves to their fourth NCAA berth in the last seven years.

It was an unexpected turn of events for the Waves, who started the season 1-6 and are just the fourth team to enter the NCAA Women's tournament with losing record. The 1992 Notre Dame, 1994 Missouri and 2005 Illinois State teams were the others.

``I remember certain times of the season where I saw growth. And I kept clinging onto and holding onto the fact that I knew there was a lot of room for growth,'' Pepperdine coach Julie Rousseau said. ``And we saw the growth happen from week to week. I knew that we would continue to improve because that's the type of young women they are.''

Oklahoma is 2-1 against Pepperdine, including a 95-77 win on Nov. 29, 2003 in the last meeting.

The winner will face No. 7 seed BYU or 10th-seeded Iowa in the second round Monday.