She arrived at Oklahoma five years ago with nothing more tangible than a vision, nothing more solid than faith. When you sign on to play college basketball for a team that was 5-22 the previous season, the only promise you have is in the possibilities.
Oklahoma point guard Stacey Dales believed the Sooners’ program had the potential to be top-notch.
Her confidence was well placed. Five seasons later Dales and coach Sherri Coale have the Sooners preparing to play Connecticut (38-0) Sunday for the NCAA championship.
“When I met coach Coale, I was sold on her vision for the future of the program,” Dales said. “I wanted to help it change and get better.”
Coale wanted the same thing.
“I just knew,” Coale said. “When I told her about how hard it was going to be and how lousy we were and how far we had to go, she just moved closer and closer to the edge of her seat.”
It didn’t take Dales long to take the plunge, leaving behind friends, family and country–she is Canadian–to commit to Oklahoma. Coming up for air, however, proved tougher.
Her college career was only 100 seconds old when a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended Dales’ freshman season. She could only watch as the team struggled to a 9-18 record.
“My first year I was in a state of depression,” Dales said. “I was in my room. I saw four walls and just sat there.”
Still Dales maintained her faith in her teammates.
“I would watch us lose and lose and lose,” she said. “But on the other side of the coin it was, `Wow, we are going to be really good. I feel it.'”
That feeling, like Dales’ game, was strengthened through countless rehabilitation sessions, endless practices and innumerable games.
Since Dales’ redshirt season Oklahoma has improved each year, from 15-14 to 25-8 to 28-6 to 32-3 this season. Dales has started all 131 of those games.
Now comes the hard part. With three consecutive Big 12 titles, two Sweet Sixteens and this Final Four, the only prize the Sooners haven’t claimed is the national championship. To get it they will have to get past a Connecticut squad that some are calling the best in history.
With Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, who combine for almost 29 points and 11 rebounds per game, the Huskies boast the best guard tandem in the country.
“But [Oklahoma’s] guards are really, really good,” Huskies forward Tamika Williams said. “Stacey Dales threw the most awesome pass I’ve ever seen. She knew exactly how to thread the needle.”
And when to stick it in.
Dales shoots 48 percent from the field, averaging 17 points and five assists.
Her game is bolstered by a strong sense of self-confidence.
“Connecticut is the best team in the country,” Dales said. “But on any given day, any team can win.”
With the Sooners heavy underdogs, Dales’ faith might seem misplaced. But as she has shown, she knows how to pick a winner.
