Ranked No. 8, having lost only once, Sooner women must still prove themselves
Though I’d love to spread knowledge and wisdom where Oklahoma women’s basketball is concerned, I’m not sure I can.
Not to brag, but I don’t think anybody else can either.
There’s Aaliyah Chavez, the nation’s top high school recruit a year ago, who entered Thursday night’s SEC opener at Texas A&M leading the Sooners in points (18.9 per game), assists (4.4) and minutes (30.2).
Raegan Beers is still Raegan Beers, averaging 17.8 points and 10.7 rebounds, which might make her an All-American if she keeps it up, and still she must master the art of help defense. See the Sooners’ 103-98 home-court overtime victory over North Carolina State for reference, their best offensive showing and worst defensive showing, all in the same game.
Payton Verhulst remains dependable, averaging 10.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists, and might still be the Sooners’ x-factor if she ever nudges her 3-point shooting percentage (32.2) closer to 40 than 30.
Zya Vann has been efficient and a weapon in this, her sophomore season, averaging 12 points on 46.9 percent shooting and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Sahara Williams, still just a junior, averages a stout 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds.
Depth may not be what it’s been, but Caya Smith’s shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range, which counts.
The problem?
Other than N.C. State and Oklahoma State — neither currently ranked, though they’d be 31st and 26th, respectively, if the AP Top 25 extended to all teams receiving votes — OU has beaten nobody good.
Which brings us to that league opener at A&M.
The Sooners prevailed 72-50, which would have been huge were Gary Blair still coaching the Aggies. Instead, it’s Joni Taylor, his successor, who entered the season 38-52 overall and 11-37 in SEC play in this, her fourth campaign at the helm.
OU prevailed by 22 points, but did it on a night A&M hit just 26.3 percent of its shots, went 1 of 18 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 19 times. In the third quarter, the Aggies scored seven points without a single field goal, missing all 10 of their shots.
OU was neither great nor good.
Mostly, A&M just missed shots rather than succumbing to any OU pressure.
Nine first-quarter Sooner turnovers were too many, as was 21 for the game, as was OU’s own 37.5 percent shooting (30 of 80), as was its 5-of-25 performance from beyond the arc.
Chavez played well, scoring 20 points with seven rebounds and six assists. Beers missed too many layups, yet still finished with 14 points and 12 boards.
And that was about it.
OU is ranked No. 8 in both major polls, is 13-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC, its only loss coming to fourth-ranked UCLA on Nov. 10 in Sacramento.
But what is this team, really?
Good question. No good answer.
Yet.
Other than N.C. State and Oklahoma State, here’s OU’s non-conference slate:
Belmont, Kansas City, North Alabama, Western Carolina, East Texas A&M, Coppin State, Florida State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Little Rock, North Carolina Central.
That’s four literal directional schools, and though Florida State may sound good, the Seminoles have played 15 games and lost 10.
What OU’s done to date is an indication of what it hopes to do the rest of the season. Who it has done it against, though, offers little guidance as to whether it can do it against what lies ahead.
OU wants to score a lot of points and, prior to facing the Aggies, ranked second nationally at 96.2 per game.
The Sooners want to run a clean, crisp offense, and Thursday night aside, they’ve done it, scoring all those points while ranking fifth nationally in assists per game (21.5), turning the ball over a reasonable 14.2 times per game.
Should that turnover number hold, OU figures to have a big conference season.
But can it survive in a league that includes No. 2 Texas, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 5 LSU, No. 11 Kentucky, No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 15 Ole Miss and No. 23 Tennessee?
Probably?
Maybe?
Who knows.
There are two different metrics to measure all 363 Division I women’s basketball programs. One is the NCAA’s NET, which attempts to account for everything — margins, efficiency, strength of schedule and opponent quality across four quadrants — replacing the old RPI and giving the selection committee its preferred sorting tool.
OU is No. 14 in NET.
The old RPI, though, still exists.
There, OU is No. 50.
Think of a movie on Rotten Tomatoes the critics love and the audience hates, or vice versa. That’s Sooner basketball right now.
Remember the rumdums on OU’s non-conference slate?
The Sooners’ strength of schedule currently ranks 278th. Prior to facing A&M, not a good team, it was 298th. Broken into NET quadrants, OU is 1-1 in Quad 1, 2-0 in Quad 3 and 10-0 in Quad 4, without a single Quad 2 opponent to be found.
It kind of makes it fun.
Only guessing what we might know, every future game’s a new adventure, the first of those, 2 p.m. Sunday inside Lloyd Noble Center against Mississippi State. After that, a murderers’ row: No. 15 Ole Miss, at No. 11 Kentucky, No. 5 LSU, No. 3 South Carolina.
Holy cow.
We know so little.
We’re about to know so much more.