Sooner women winning, though it can be difficult to understand how
And if they can knock off Kansas State tonight, they'll really be rolling
If you don’t follow Oklahoma women’s basketball, you should because it’s bananas.
Despite a promising start, the Sooners hit the skids during the non-conference portion of their schedule, including a horrendous home-court loss to Southern that left them with a 6-5 record, staring at an 18-game slate in one of the nation’s most difficult conferences.
So much for a third straight NCAA tourney bid. So much for not taking a step back upon the departure of program icons Maddie Williams and Taylor Robertson.
So much for all the fun it had been since Jennie Baranczyk left Des Moines for Norman, taking over the program Sherri Coale took to the highest heights but that had fallen upon hard times at the end of her tenure.
Only now, it’s become a case of so much for even thinking such terrible thoughts because the Sooners have won 7 of 8 conference games since, earning back poll consideration — they’d be tied for 30th in the AP Top 25 were it to list every program receiving votes — and reentering the NCAA tournament mix.
Now OU has a chance to take a bold step beyond as No. 2 Kansas State visits Lloyd Noble Center this evening for a 6 p.m. tip, the Wildcats happening to own the Sooners’ lone league loss, 74-57, Jan. 10 in Manhattan.
Since, Kansas State has lost leading scorer and rebounder Ayoka Lee, the same player who torched OU for a Big 12 record 61 points two Januaries ago. Though due back from ankle surgery in February, the Wildcats have nonetheless kept winning without her, running their season mark to 20-1 and a perfect 9-0 in league play.
There’s a lot going on.
And with Lee out, don’t count the Sooners out … even as its seriously difficult to make any sense of their season.
That’s the bananas part.
Like, since losing on the Wildcats home floor, OU has won four straight, each one hardly resembling another.
The Sooners have won those games scoring 60, 71, 73 and 97 points. They have won them shooting 32.4%, 43.3%, 48.6% and 51.8%.
The one they won shooting 51.8%, they only scored 71 points, at Houston. The one they scored 97, at then-10th-ranked Texas, they shot 48.6 percent.
Make sense of that.
A year ago, conference opponents were posting better offensive numbers than OU is posting now.
Then, they were scoring 76.7 points against the Sooners. Now, the Sooners themselves are scoring 71.6.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.