OU women’s basketball, meet Australia

“Sorry,” Hand said with a huge grin. “There’s just a lot to be excited about right now.”

That’s because OU women’s basketball left Tuesday for Australia.

The Sooners Down Under means more than just four games against international teams and more than a cultural experience of seeing kangaroos and visiting the Sydney Opera House. It also means 10 extra days of practice that isn’t breaking any NCAA rules.

Ten extra days. In today’s sports world? Well, we’ll just let OU women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale answer that one.

“You really gain your basketball advantage in your practice before you leave and then you get the cultural and educational side of it when you’re there,” Coale said after a recent practice. “Obviously we’ll play four games and we’ll compete to win and we’ll be in game situations that will be unique and all, that will help us, but the biggest benefit athletically helps us by being able to be on the floor with them here before we go.”

And with three new players on the team, Coale calls that advantage “huge.”

“We have a lot of veterans ” she said. “Typically — and I think it will be the case with this group — typically when you have a lot of veterans, you’re learning takes place really quickly because they outnumber, the ones who know outnumber the ones who don’t know. I think this really gives us a leg up in terms of preparation for the season.”