Breaking down the women’s Oklahoma City region

The Big East has had at least one team represent the conference in the Final Four seven out of… The Big East has had at least one team represent the conference in the Final Four seven out of the last nine women’s basketball NCAA tournaments. ‘ ‘ ‘ Heading to the Sweet 16 this weekend, the Big East is responsible for one-fourth of the remaining 16 teams in the Tournament. Pitt, Connecticut, Louisville and Rutgers will support the conference and try to stretch the Final Four streak to eight out of the last 10 Tournaments. Two of the four Big East teams remaining, Pitt and Rutgers, are placed in the Oklahoma City Regional bracket. The other two teams in the Oklahoma City bracket include No. 1-seeded Oklahoma and No. 6 Purdue. Let’s take a look at the four teams in the Oklahoma City bracket: (1) Oklahoma: KEY PLAYERS: C- Courtney Paris (all-time leading rebounder in Division I women’s history) F- Ashley Paris PG- Danielle Robinson KEY TOURNEY STATS: Paris Twins: Combined for 25 total rebounds in Round 1 Combined for 26 total rebounds in Round 2 Robinson: Led Oklahoma in scoring for Rounds 1 and 2. 15 Points in Round 1 17 Points in Round 2 NEXT GAME: (1) Oklahoma vs. (4) Pitt (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.) KEYS TO VICTORY: Look for the Paris twins to continue dominating the boards for Oklahoma to roll as the top seed and the recent scoring surge from the point guard Robinson to keep up. (4) Pittsburgh: KEY PLAYERS: G- Shavonte Zellous (second in Big East in scoring average with 22.5 points per game) G- Xenia Stewart G- Shayla Scott KEY TOURNEY STATS: Zellous: Played 69 minutes in the first two rounds. Scored 55 points combined in the first two rounds. Stewart: Played 70 minutes out of 80 in the first two rounds. Scott: Scored 18 points and 13 rebounds in the first two rounds. NEXT GAME: (4) Pitt vs. (1) Oklahoma (Sunday, ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.) KEYS TO VICTORY: Zellous to take it hard to the paint early in the game and draw fouls on Courtney Paris. Stewart and Scott to dominate on defense and add a quality-scoring effort. (6) Purdue: KEY PLAYERS: C- Danielle Campbell F- Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton G- FahKara Malone KEY TOURNEY STATS: Campbell: 12-of-12 on free throws in the first two rounds. Scored 24 points and 15 rebounds in the first two rounds. Wisdom-Hylton: Averages 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Malone: Played 70 minutes in the first two rounds. Averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. NEXT GAME: (6) Purdue vs. (7) Rutgers (ESPN2, 7:30 pm) KEYS TO VICTORY: Malone is fully healthy after missing five weeks with a dislocated finger. She controls the rhythm of the Purdue offense, which put up 85 points against the No. 3 seed North Carolina. Control the game inside with the formidable front line. Feed the ball inside and dominate the paint with Wisdom-Hylton and Campbell. (7) Rutgers: KEY PLAYERS: G- Epiphanny Prince C- Kia Vaughn G- Brittany Ray KEY TOURNEY STATS: Prince: Played 78 out of 80 minutes in the first two rounds. Averaging 26.5 points and eight rebounds per game. Vaughn: Scored 28 points and 17 rebounds in the first two rounds. Ray: Went 5 for 9 from 3-point range in the first two rounds. NEXT GAME: (7) Rutgers vs. (6) Purdue (Sunday, ESPN2, 7:30 pm) KEYS TO VICTORY: Prince plays almost every minute and is the captain of the Rutgers ship that just scored 80 points against No. 2-seeded Auburn in the Scarlet Knights’ second-round upset. Get the ball outside the arc for Ray to continue lighting up the net with 3-pointers. The center Vaughn needs to keep grabbing rebounds and contain Purdue’s Campbell.’ ‘