Editor's note: Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale will share a bi-weekly diary with ESPN.com for the rest of the season.

Feb. 8, 2002

I have no idea what day it is, my electric bill is overdue, and I'm not sure when my 5-year-old last had a bath. We're definitely in the middle of conference play.

	Coale

At this point, it is survival of the fittest. You win, you smile, you appreciate the moment, then you wake up the next morning and prepare for who's next. It's not that we don't still celebrate the wins -- trust me, my first two seasons carved into my bones a need to celebrate every victory regardless of the circumstances. It's just that the flow of quality opponents is relentless.

When you mix in travel and media responsibilities, the days just seem to all run together. My apologies to anyone who might have been thinking this time of year was glamorous. It's like mile 11 of the Boston Marathon ... survive Heartbreak Hill and you have a chance to do something special. Somebody hand me a cup of water, please.

This stretch of the season has been interesting. We're winning, but we're certainly in no danger of peaking too soon. The funny thing about basketball is that you can do a lot of things really well, but if the ball doesn't go in the basket with dependable regularity, none of it looks very good.

One fish, two fish ...
We haven't played very pretty in awhile. We're a very good 3-point shooting team with several players capable of scoring from there. Lately, however, the barrel has been empty. Sometimes missing is as contagious as making. And it's so mental.

Roz, in particular, has had her struggles. What has always set her apart is what now seems to be making her mortal: she's trying to make it, like everybody else. Good shooting isn't hope, it is faith; and the line between the two is fine.

One of my daughter's favorite books is "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. It is customary that I read two lines and she answers the next two. Last night as I read: "And when you're in a Slump,/ you're not in for much fun," and she answered, "Un-slumping yourself is not easily done." Then she declared, "Mom, you should read this book to Roz." Perhaps I shall.

Dales delivers
The grand prize of the last two weeks has been the "arrival" of Stacey Dales. I put that word in quotations because she's been here all along and has been an integral part of our winning games, but according to the media, in particular, she's been missing in action.

	Sherri Coale, with LaNeishea Caufield, led OU to the best Big 12 season in history in 2001-02.

It's the old, "To whom much has been given, much shall be required" thing. Being average isn't allowed. Not when you're supposed to be GOOD. And the first half of this season (she would certainly agree), she wasn't herself. Stacey is a perfectionist. The expectations she has for herself far outweigh those the public might hold. Though she had fought like mad to prevent it, Stacey had piled so much pressure on herself that her every movement had become labored. Very simply put, yet not so simply overcome: Stacey Dales was trying too hard.

I hate that. You can want a thing too much. You can get in your own way. You can squeeze too tight. Stacey did. After our win over A&M in College Station, she wrote on her postgame thoughts that she had found a new profession: she was going into construction (a distant reference to her inability to find the basket that night). I was encouraged in that at least she hadn't lost her sense of humor. I knew then that she was on her way back from wherever she had been.

Then we played Oklahoma State and Neish played five minutes in the first half due to fouls, Caton went 0-for-10 from the field, and Roz was ice cold. Stace became so wrapped up in what needed to be done that she forgot how good she was "supposed" to be and she was, as a result, even better. She rebounded. She scored. She defended. When three players ran at her, she found her teammates at the rim. She put us on her back and carried us to win 17. The locker room was filled with "Welcome Back Stacey Dales" and a relieved energy that bubbles to the surface when your heartbeat returns. She's been big time ever since.

We're in the driver's seat in league play, but the race is far from over. Though I don't feel we're playing nearly as well as we're capable, I do think that we have more juice right now than we have had in years past at this point. Perhaps that is because we have substituted more; perhaps it is because our practices have been more mental and less physical; or perhaps it is simply because we're older, more experienced, more prepared for the marathon of the Big XII.

I do think that our players get it. I think that they know the object. Though they do not hear me right now the way I would always like, they are still intent on improving. They are a conscientious group with a sense of urgency that comes from having been close enough to taste where it is you want to go, but being denied the right to go there. I keep waiting for all cylinders to fire at once. If that happens at the right time, we could have a lot of fun this spring.

For more on coach Coale and the Sooners, or for her previous diary entries, visit Oklahoma's official athletic site.