SAN ANTONIO - Hakeem Olajuwon arrived at the Alamodome in 1995 leading a middle-of-the-pack underdog against a dominant No. 1 seed. Like father, like daughter. Oklahoma center Abi Olajuwon didn't want to discuss her Hall of Fame father Saturday, but when the Sooners open the Final Four against Stanford today, she'll be trying to duplicate his success here. "Hopefully there's some luck still here," Abi Olajuwon said.

SAN ANTONIO - Hakeem Olajuwon arrived at the Alamodome in 1995 leading a middle-of-the-pack underdog against a dominant No. 1 seed.

Like father, like daughter.

Oklahoma center Abi Olajuwon didn't want to discuss her Hall of Fame father Saturday, but when the Sooners open the Final Four against Stanford today, she'll be trying to duplicate his success here.

"Hopefully there's some luck still here," Abi Olajuwon said.

The Houston Rockets slouched into the 1995 playoffs as the No. 6 seed, but made a run to the Western Conference finals and wound up against the San Antonio Spurs, the top team.

The Spurs had the NBA's best record and league MVP David Robinson. But behind Hakeem Olajuwon, the Rockets won all three games at the Alamodome and ousted the Spurs before winning their second consecutive championship.

Like Hakeem's Rockets against the Spurs, Abi's Sooners (26-10) enter the Final Four as the inferior opponent to Stanford (35-1). But the Alamodome isn't just familiar ground to the Olajuwons: It's also home to Oklahoma's only other Final Four appearance in 2002.

Abi Olajuwon is a big reason why the Sooners are back.

Oklahoma's fourth-leading scorer in Big 12 play, Olajuwon has averaged 15 points in the NCAA tournament, second behind Nyeshia Stevenson (19.8 points). Olajuwon spent most of her college career on the bench behind Courtney and Ashley Paris but has flourished in her senior year.

SHARING THE WEALTH: Need another way to describe the dominance of the Connecticut Huskies? How's this: they've got two national players of the year.

While senior Tina Charles won The Associated Press women's college basketball player of the year Saturday, teammate Maya Moore repeated as the Wade Trophy player of the year. The junior averaged 18.4 points and 8.2 rebounds this season.

Connecticut's leading scorer is only the third two-time winner in the award's 33-year history. She joins Seimone Augustus (2005, 2006) and Nancy Lieberman (1979, 1980).

SLAM DUNK: It wasn't hard to predict the biggest cheers Saturday: Baylor phenom Brittney Griner dunking during layup drills.

Fans watching Baylor's practice didn't take their eyes off the 6-foot-8 freshman from the moment she walked on the court. Griner started with an easy two-handed dunk, but it was her one-handed dunk toward the end that got the most oohs.

Griner said it's not about giving the fans what they came for.

"Point guards shoot 3s, so they're going to warm up and shoot 3s," Griner said. "I can dunk, so I'm going to warm up. So when I do have the opportunity to dunk, I'm going to throw it down."

NEED A TICKET?: Baylor is the first school with a home-state edge in the Final Four since Southwest Missouri State crashed the St. Louis national semifinals in 2001.

The NCAA hopes the 2 1/2-hour drive from Waco translates to more ticket-buying Bears fans.

Organizers met their goal of selling 24,000 tickets for the Final Four, said Jenny Carnes, executive director of the San Antonio organizing committee. But it's short of the 29,619 tickets the Alamodome sold for the 2002 women's Final Four, which remains the tournament record.

Carnes said the economic downturn led to lower expectations.

"Things were very different eight years ago in this country," Carnes said.

The lower bowl in the Alamodome is sold out, but upper-level tickets for all three games were available Saturday for $100.

YOUNG GUN: Oklahoma's Coale arrived in San Antonio as the only coach without a national title. But she brought another victory with her.

"I'm younger than the others," said Coale, 45.

For the record: Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer (both 56) are the oldest, followed by Baylor coach Kim Mulkey (47). The three have won nine national titles among them.

VanDerveer doesn't want their club accepting any new members.

"Nothing against Sherri, but I hope she doesn't get it this year," VanDerveer said.