Editor's note: Oklahoma's Stacey Dales, a Kodak All-American in 2000-01, will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season.

Jan. 23, 2000

Since we didn't have a game today, we had a practice that involved a good amount of running. It's nice to have a week without a game because it gives me the opportunity to catch up on some things and rest my body. On both Sunday and Monday, I had a chance to take a nap, do some homework, spend time with Chris (fiancé), play with my dogs and cook dinner. A lot of times, Chris will make dinner for me because I don't have time, so I always take advantage of that when it happens.

	Stacey Dales was the 2000-01 Big 12 Player of the Year.

After the two days off, we're back at the grind. Our practices on Tuesday and Wednesday were sharp as we prepare for Texas A&M on Saturday. Last weekend, the win over Texas was huge because it was a rebound after the loss to Iowa State. I thought we played with full aggression and we took our safety net away.

I think we're beginning to trust one another a lot more and that allows us to take more risks. The trust factor was huge in that game. We have had a bonding week this week and when you are able to bond on and off the court, that's very important.

I like where our team is at right now. I don't think we're at our best, but we are very, very good. To me, that says we'll be at our best at the right time of the year. Right now, we're playing good basketball and executing the way we want to. There are still a few missing gaps, but that's to be expected at this point in the season. But I feel that we get better with every game we play.

We are getting ready for a three-game stand of unranked teams, but that won't affect our mindset going into the games. Every team in the Big 12 is good whether they are in the top 25 or not. We just know that we can't look over any teams because of the toughness of the Big 12 conference. Although the teams we will play won't have a number in front of them, they have beaten ranked opponents this year. We just have to have the mindset that we are going in and playing a top 25-team for every game we play.

We'll be back at home on Feb. 2 and expect to see you there!

Go Sooners!

For more on Stacey Dales and the Sooners, visit Oklahoma's official athletic site.