On a night they weren't great, Sooners still showcase how outstanding they can be
The Oklahoma women should have played a better game Monday night.
The No. 9 Sooners, who’ve earned their ranking given what they’ve brought back, what they’ve added and what they’d already done on the court three games into coach Jennie Baranczyk’s fourth season, should have played a better game.
Had they, it would have made this thing a whole lot easier to write.
Instead, OU turned the ball over a ridiculous 24 times inside Wichita State’s Koch Arena, one off last season’s high; canned just 50 percent (7 of 14) of its free throws; closed scoring only 12 fourth-quarter points and only five over its last 11 possessions, making a Baranczyk-called timeout with 2:24 remaining necessary so she could explain what’s acceptable and what isn't to her team.
After all that?
After all that, a limp to the finish, filled with inattention, poor decisions and plain old bad basketball, the Sooners walked off the court having stopped the Shockers 79-49.
No longer may OU brag it’s beaten each of its four opponents by no less than 32 points, but by only 30.
You’re right.
Not very convincing.
Nonetheless, for too many stretches that lasted too long — though OU played hard, a fact borne out by its defensive numbers: Wichita State shot 30.2 percent (19 of 63); made 3 of 15 3-point attempts; turned it over 21 times itself; got out-rebounded 53 to 31— the Sooners were sloppy and unfocused, opening the first three quarters slowly and closing the last one terribly
Yet, for all of it, they still came up with a final score that should only propel their top 10 ascension, provided they win similarly Friday at UNLV.
You’d rather watch them hit on all cylinders. But when they don’t, it remains a testament to how impossibly good they might be when they do.
It helps to have the second-coming of Courtney Paris, or something like it, in Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers. Monday, she netted a mere 11 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t her fault on a night she made 5 of 7 shots.
Cut the turnovers in half and good chance she finishes closer to her incoming averages of 24.7 points and 12.3 boards, numbers that had her No. 6 and No. 7 in the nation coming off a seven-day stretch in which she earned national player of the week honors.
Still, what Beers may do more than anything is put a high floor underneath her team. It’s when OU’s full-court game takes over, often beginning with a defensive rebounds from Beers, the Sooners are gangbusters.
That revelation occurred in the first quarter only against the Shockers, but it was something to see.
OU had picked up points on one of its previous five possessions when the following transpired:
• Not quite a transition basket, but Lexy Keys found Sahara Williams on the left side as the Wichita State defense sagged. Williams ripped the open 3 and OU led 15-11 with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter.
• Following a 3-point miss from K.P. Parr, Williams missed a driving layup at the other end, only for the ball to come back to her, after which she assisted Beers down low to make it 17-11.
• After a Wichita State turnover, this time in transition, Williams found Keys for a 3 and it was 20-11.
• Another miss on the Shockers’ end led to Nevaeh Tot assisting Payton Verhulst from 3, making it 23-11.
• After yet another miss on the Shockers’ end, it was Williams, with her third assist of the sequence, setting Beers up for a layup, making it 25-11, while 59 seconds remained in the quarter.
Five possessions, 13 points, no points allowed, 2:16 off the clock. Four players scored. Three assisted.
Jiminy Christmas!
Break ’em up.
That’s what this team can do.
Verhulst would go on to lead OU, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Keys finished with 12, hitting all three of her 3-point attempts on a night her team knocked down a salty 10 of 21.
Williams, though she made just 2 of 10 shots, delivered a career- and game-high six assists, grabbed two steals and finished plus 20 over 18 minutes on the court.
Freshman point guard Zia Vann added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
No, the Sooners were not that good, but they shot 47 percent (31 of 66), 51 percent (26 of 51) through three quarters, and because they were brilliant momentarily and stingy throughout, the difference was the difference and they remain who they appear to be.
OU happens to share its new conference with the nation’s Nos. 1, 4, 7, 15, 17 and 24 teams. In order: South Carolina, Texas, LSU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Alabama.
Ought to be a fun winter and early spring.