Dales Gets to Basket Sooner Than Most

Put a basketball in the hands of Stacey Dales and give her a three-on-two fastbreak to lead. Then sit back and watch.

The lean, 6-foot blond with pale blue eyes becomes a flash of lightning, bolting her way down the center of the court, glancing at streaking teammates on the wings, gauging who has the best chance to finish off the play.

Her pass may bounce through traffic. Or be whipped on a 45-degree angle. It may be lofted toward the rim. Whatever she chooses, the results are usually the same: an easy basket, a roaring crowd, a deflated opponent, the cool smile of a successful leader.

“I see everything. But I see gaps and angles more than anything,” Dales said. “The bodies that I see are secondary to the spots I find. I pick a spot; it’s just a quick glance or eye contact with my teammate. It might not even be that. But I feel their momentum and I feel the gap. And I put the ball in that spot, based on those two things.”

Dales, 22, isn’t simply a two-time first-team All-American who has led Oklahoma to a school-record 29 victories, the regular-season and tournament Big 12 Conference titles, the top seeding in the NCAA tournament’s West Region, and tonight’s West semifinal matchup against Texas Tech in Boise, Idaho.

On an average night Dales will score 17 points, dish out five assists and pick off five rebounds. She can play three positions--point guard, shooting guard and small forward. She is the Big 12’s all-time assist leader. Besides playing Division I, the Collingwood, Ontario, native is a fixture on Canada’s national and Olympic teams.

Her impact on the Sooner program is staggering. When she completes her career, Dales will be listed in 17 career categories. She is the only Oklahoma player with at least 1,800 points, 600 rebounds and 700 assists.

“I take a lot of pride that I have become a very good basketball player over the four years at Oklahoma, that I represent the university, and I’ve been able to put Oklahoma on the national map, to help give it a start,” Dales said. “That means more than anything.”

Basketball is her world, but not her universe. A communications major who graduates in May, Dales cracks up teammates on trips by performing skits she has seen on “Saturday Night Live.”

She and fiance Chris Schuman, who plan an April 13 wedding, enjoy dancing and lavishing affection on their yellow Labradors, Allie and Grace. Teammates say Dales is a pretty good cook.

They also say they don’t begrudge Dales the attention she receives as the team’s best-known player because they know she’d rather fit in than stand out. Besides, Dales’ passing ability gets everyone points and keeps everyone in the game.

“It’s great playing with her,” said fellow senior and backcourt partner LaNeishea Caufield, who, like others, praises Dales’ leadership abilities. “She doesn’t yell at you; she’ll pull you aside and talk to you in huddles. If you get frustrated with the coaches she will be the one who talks to you and brings a different perspective, and you’ll go ‘Oh, I get it.’”

When discussing the top collegiate guards available in the April WNBA draft, some league scouts are as high on Dales as they are Connecticut’s Sue Bird, the Naismith player of the year.

“Dales can play more positions,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “And Dales may be the top pick because of her international experience.”

Dales may still have lessons to learn. But no one has to improve her confidence. She has an unshakable faith that Oklahoma will not only make the Final Four, but win the title.

“We have a very special chemistry,” Dales said, “and we’re all extremely goal-oriented individuals.... Combine all those minds and you have a very disciplined, eager team.”

That wasn’t always the case. Back in 1990, the Sooners were in such disarray that university officials dropped women’s basketball during the Final Four weekend. It was reinstated eight days later amid protests and allegations that the move violated Title IX.

Two events revitalized the program. First, Sherri Coale was hired as coach in 1996, even though she had no previous Division I experience.The second was Coale convincing Dales, who was spotted playing on a club team in Canada, to attend Oklahoma instead of Syracuse. She was won over by Coale’s belief that Dales could help turn a sagging program into a great one.

Dales redshirted her freshman year after tearing a ligament in her left knee, and Oklahoma staggered through an 8-19 season. Since then, Oklahoma has gone 97-31.

Coale said Dale’s offensive gifts were soon evident. While at Oklahoma, her growth as a player has been as much mental as physical.

“One, she’s gotten tough,” Coale said. “When she first came in here she was really thin, had little muscle mass and didn’t tolerate pain. To be quite frank, [opponents] would muscle her out of the game. And she had to figure out how to handle it.

“Also, early in her career she was a very emotional player, and she would use up all of her adrenaline in the first five minutes of the game. She handles her emotions better and found that calm intensity that makes her successful.”

Dales said she had no choice but to find that balance if she was going to be successful.

“Everything I do in life I do full out,” she said. “It’s all about priorities, what is important in your life at that time. A lot of people only get to do one of these things throughout their life, so I’m really savoring them. I’ve got basketball, then I get married, then graduate. Take it step by step, and you don’t get too stressed.”