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College basketball

Sooners strain to keep injuries from winning

Its official title from last season is 2002 National Runner-Up, the result of a Cinderella season for Oklahoma.

What a difference a year makes.

The No. 24 Sooners suffered back-to-back losses at home for the first time since 1998 last week and are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, struggling to overcome serious injuries to several key players.

Wednesday night's 69-61 loss to Texas A&M, their first to the Aggies in nine games, likely will drop the Sooners out of the Top 25.

After making its first appearance in the NCAA title game last season, Oklahoma is a completely different team.

The Sooners entered the season with one returning starter, senior forward Caton Hill, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury Nov. 26. By the time the Big 12 season began, they were playing five new starters. Since Hill's injury, three others have had knee injuries end their seasons: freshmen Casey Walker and Erin Higgins, and senior Stephanie Simon.

Coach Sherri Coale said the circumstances have forced her young team to grow up fast; it recognizes there is little margin for error.

"I don't think they've gotten ahead of themselves or been behind in their thought processes," Coale said. "They are young and I think they know the value of every single game. ... I think this particular group, the kids we have, the things we've had to deal with this entire season, they are very well aware of how dangerous it can be to look behind or ahead."

Clearly, the stiff competition hasn't helped. Oklahoma is 1-6 against Top 25 teams and 0-5 vs. teams in the Top 10.

WHAT ABOUT ME?: While Duke and Connecticut were drawing the national attention last week, Washington junior guard Giuliana Mendiola was having the game of her life in relative obscurity.

In a 111-77 win over UCLA Feb. 1, Mendiola scored a school-record 43, tied a career high with 12 rebounds and had seven assists. Mendiola was 6-for-9 (.667) from beyond the arc, helping then-No. 25 Washington to a school single-game record 60 percent 3-point shooting (15-for-25). She also made 7 of 8 free throws. Mendiola accounted for more than one-third of Washington's points, which broke the school's Pac-10 single-game record. She was named the Pac-10 player of the week.

Washington is second in the Pac-10 behind Stanford. The two meet Thursday.

WATCHING THE FALL: Although the game failed to live up to the hype, the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown between Duke and Connecticut was the most-watched regular-season women's game on an ESPN network. UConn defeated Duke 77-65, moving into the No. 1 ranking this week.

ESPN2 had a 1.45 rating for the Feb. 1 game, which was watched by an average of 1.226-million households. It was the highest rating since ESPN's telecast of Tennessee and Louisiana Tech on Dec. 14, 1982 (1.7 rating). The game was ESPN2's third most-watched college basketball game, including the postseason and men's games. The two most-viewed games were between the Duke and North Carolina men.

ANOTHER TRY: After a midweek bye, Florida travels to Knoxville to take on Tennessee 3:30 p.m. Sunday. When the two met earlier this season, UT won by 41.

Although the Gators are in the middle of an eight-game losing streak, coach Carolyn Peck said her team has learned a lot and improved since the last time it met the Vols Jan. 19.

"I think that we know what to expect," she said. "Having five freshmen, four sophomores and two seniors that were playing at the time, I don't think we knew what to expect. I think they know what to expect this time so that anxiety is gone and having (center) Vanessa (Hayden) will make a little bit of a difference."

-- Antonya English covers women's basketball. She can be reached at (813) 226-3389 or english@sptimes.com.

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