Tag: Kelbie Washington

Oklahoma earns No. 4 seed, set to host first two NCAA Tournament rounds

The Oklahoma women’s basketball team is staying home to start the NCAA Tournament.

After topping Kansas on Friday, 80-68, and then falling to Baylor on Saturday, 91-76, the Oklahoma women’s basketball team was waiting to find out its NCAA Tournament fate following the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship.

What the Sooners found out was fantastic news. Oklahoma (24-8, 12-6 Big 12) is the No. 4 seed in the Bridgeport region of the women’s NCAA Tournament and will meet 13th-seeded IUPUI on Saturday. That means the Sooners open in Norman versus IUPUI and potentially against the winner of the matchup between No. 5 seed Notre Dame and No. 12 seed Massachusetts.

The top seed in the Bridgeport region is North Carolina State. Oklahoma and N.C. State are joined by No. 2 seed Connecticut and No. 3 seed Indiana. Fellow Big 12 foe Kansas State is also the No. 9 seed in the Sooners’ region. The Wildcats open against eighth-seeded Washington State.

“The feeling you get when your name comes up on that screen. Other than when Ayoka Lee’s name came up against us, other than that, it felt really good to be able to just see our name and to be able to get a bracket and, you know, everyone taking pictures of the brackets and all that kind of stuff. It just never gets old and it gets better every time,” Oklahoma head women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk said.

Other Big 12 teams that made the field include No. 2 seed Baylor in the Wichita region, No. 2 seed Texas and No. 8 seed Kansas in the Spokane region and No. 3 seed Iowa State in the Greensboro region. In addition to N.C. State, the other No. 1 seeds in the field are South Carolina in the Greensboro region, Stanford in the Spokane region and Louisville in the Wichita region.

It is Oklahoma’s first appearance back in the NCAA Tournament since 2018. OU is seeking its first NCAA Tournament win since 2017 when the sixth-seeded Sooners beat 11th-seeded Gonzaga in Oklahoma City, 75-62.

OU’s leading scorers entering the NCAA Tournament include Madi Williams at 18.2 points per game, Taylor Robertson at 17.0 points per game and Skylar Vann at 11.8 points per game.

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Sooners Wire Player of the Week: Taylor Robertson beats buzzer to nab award

Taylor Robertson hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to down Kansas State, 72-69, to earn Sooners Wire Player of the Week honors.

With the final seconds draining away against Kansas State, Taylor Robertson drifted out into the corner as Madi Williams kicked the basketball back outside to Skylar Vann. Vann quickly swung the basketball over to Robertson who needed no time at all to set her feet and hoist the buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sunk Kansas State, 72-69.

As a result, Robertson is this week’s Sooners Wire Player of the Week.

The game-winner was Robertson’s fourth made 3-pointer of the game and she finished with 17 points to help the Sooners avenge their loss in Manhattan earlier this season and move into a tie for third place in the Big 12 Conference standings at 11-5.

“I knew I got it off in time. Whenever I shoot, I always think it’s going to go in, but I knew as soon as it left my hands, I knew it was going to go in because it felt good. It felt good, it looked good, it was right on line, so I knew it was good,” Robertson said.

All of her treys came in the final quarter and Robertson discussed what clicked for her and the Sooners late.

“I think it was a lot of my teammates were really trying to set me up. A lot of it was off a ball screen or in transition. They were really looking for me and trying to put me in a good spot to be able to get my shot off. I think a lot of it, too. I was just trying to be patient and not force up a whole bunch because I hadn’t been shooting or anything. I was just trying to let it come to me, because eventually it always does,” Robertson said.

OU held Kansas State star Ayoka Lee to just 13 points after she set the NCAA record with 61 points during the Wildcats’ 94-65 January win over the Sooners. Naturally, Oklahoma head women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk was pleased with her team’s response and the big shot that Robertson swished.

“What a game. What a finish. Obviously, Kansas State’s a very good basketball team that provides a big matchup problem for us. I thought they (K-State) played incredible and I thought we did a really nice job of playing together. I love our defensive intensity really in the first couple quarters and really into that fourth quarter. We’re going to keep getting better. I love when we play at the tempo and the pace that we like to play. We get a little stagnant at times, but we’ll figure it out. I’m just really proud of this one and I’m really proud of the end of the game. You put your money on this team any time when we’re in it at the end,” Baranczyk said of the win.

In addition to what it meant for Oklahoma in the conference standings, it was equally important for the Sooners chances to open the NCAA Tournament with a pair of games in Norman.

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