Tag: Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball

Oklahoma Women’s Basketball hosting No. 1 prospect on official visit

The Oklahoma Sooners are hosting the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class, Aaliyah Chavez on an official visit.

Oklahoma Women’s Basketball and head coach [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] are hoping to build off of another tournament appearance in their first season in the mighty SEC. They landed one of the top players in the transfer portal in forward [autotag]Raegan Beers[/autotag], and are in the running for the No. 1 player in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag], [autotag]Aaliyah Chavez[/autotag].

Chavez, who is in Norman for an official visit this weekend. According to On3, her current top schools are Texas and Texas Tech, but Oklahoma remains a possibility. Other schools in pursuit are defending national champion South Carolina and West Coast power UCLA.

Citing sources, On3’s Talia Goodman shared that NIL is likely to be a significant factor in Chavez’s recruitment. But you can never underestimate the power of a great recruiting visit.

Over the Summer, Chavez told On3 of the Oklahoma Sooners, “It’s not too far from home, and I love coach Jennie [Baranczyk]. She’s the head coach that I usually talk to. She’s very young, and I like how they just play basketball. They don’t try to force anything – no sets. They just go out there and play basketball.”

Chavez went on to say that she wanted to play for a place that allowed her to have high energy and for a coach that didn’t have “low energy.”

 

The 2023-2024 Gatorade Girls basketball Player of the Year averaged 37.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 3.5 steals for Monterrey in Lubbock, Texas as a junior.

She’s a dynamic point guard who can facilitate the offense but also dominate the game with her ability to work to the basket as well as shoot from every area on the court.

Oklahoma will have to make a strong impression this weekend with Chavez to put them at the front of the recruiting race for the top player in the class. Baranzcyk and her staff have done a really good job on the recruiting trail and this is a huge weekend for the program to take another strong step toward being a national title contender.

Where did Oklahoma Women’s Basketball land in SEC preseason media poll?

Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball picked to finish fourth in the mighty SEC.

The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball program is coming off of another strong season in year three under head coach Jennie Baranczyk. They made the NCAA tournament for the third straight season. They battled Indiana tight for 35 minutes before the Hoosiers pulled away late.

Still, it was another encouraging season for Baranczyk and the Sooners ahead of Oklahoma’s move to the SEC.

With their inaugural season in the SEC approaching, the media voted on their preseason rankings and the Oklahoma Sooners came in at No. 4. OU trails defending national champion South Carolina, the Texas Longhorns, and women’s hoops power LSU in the preseason rankings.

https://twitter.com/SEC/status/1845910688952185225

Behind Oklahoma are Ole Miss, Alabama, and then blue blood program Tennessee.

The Sooners have a ton of talent returning for the 2024-2025 season. They return 98% of their scoring production from last year’s Big 12 championship team. It was already an experienced roster, and Baranczyk picked up All-American forward Raegan Beers out of the transfer portal.

The Sooners have an opportunity to go into the SEC and make a statement against the deepest and most talented women’s basketball conference in the nation.

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Oklahoma Women’s Basketball in top 6 for No. 1 player in 2025

The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team made the top 6 for one of the best players in the 2025 recruiting class.

Coming off of their second-straight NCAA tournament appearance, Jennie Baranczyk and the Oklahoma Sooners find themselves in the middle of a big-time recruiting battle.

On Tuesday, the Sooners were included in the top six for point guard Aaliyah Chavez out of Lubbock, Texas. Chavez is considered the No. 1 player in the nation, according to On3.

The Sooners were included along with some of the heavy hitters in women’s college basketball like South Carolina, LSU, Texas, UCLA, and Texas Tech.

South Carolina, fresh off an undefeated season and their second title in three years will always be tough to beat in a recruiting battle with Dawn Staley at the helm. LSU won the national championship in the 2022-2023 season.

But Baranczyk and the Sooners have created a culture and established a style of play that’s caught the eye of prospects across the country.

“It’s not too far from home and I love coach Jennie [Baranczyk],” Chavez told On3. “She’s the head coach that I usually talk to. She’s very young, and I like how they just play basketball. They don’t try to force anything – no sets. They just go out there and play basketball.”

This won’t be an easy recruiting battle, but Baranczyk and the Sooners are in a good spot at this point. Now they just have to keep their pitch going

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Jennie Baranczyk says the SEC will ‘be a dogfight’ every night

The SEC is arguably the toughest women’s basketball conference in the country and Jennie Baranzcyk is excited for the challenge.

The move to the SEC raised the stakes for the entire Oklahoma Athletic Department. While much of the focus has been on the increase in competition for the football program, other teams will be seeing a step up in competition and intensity as well.

The SEC boasts arguably the best women’s basketball conference in the country. South Carolina has become a dominant force in recent years under head coach Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks went undefeated in 2023-2024 to capture their second national championship in the last three years. The one that South Carolina didn’t win in 2022-2023 was taken home by Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers, led by superstar forward Angel Reese.

Then there’s the women’s hoops blue blood Tennessee. They’ve been a tournament team, but haven’t found the same level of success they enjoyed under the legendary Pat Summitt.

And that’s what the Sooners will have to contend with when they enter the SEC, and Oklahoma women’s basketball head coach [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] is aware of the challenge facing her squad.

“I think you’re looking forward to playing everybody,” Baranczyk shared with SEC Now on Monday. “Because, honestly, I think every night it’s a dogfight every night, you know, and it’s new. It’s new to us. I mean, I know we’re new to everybody, but there’s no familiarity and so that’s going to be really fun in itself, especially that first year or two.”

Eight SEC programs made the Women’s NCAA tournament last season. Five of the eight made it to the round of 32 and the Gamecocks and LSU made it to the elite eight.

As tough as the conference will be for the Sooners, Oklahoma brings in a talented and experienced team. Under Baranczyk, they’ve made the round of 32 each season and were a few possessions away from beating Indiana and reaching the Sweet 16.

The Sooners made a splash in the transfer portal by adding forward [autotag]Raegan Beers[/autotag] to their Big 12 championship squad from a year ago. And as important as the talent on the floor, the Sooners have the right woman at the helm to guide this team on a deep tournament run.

Baranczyk has done a fantastic job with the Oklahoma women’s basketball program and has them positioned to be a force when they enter the SEC.

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Oklahoma Sooners earn host seed in ESPN’s early Women’s Bracketology for 2024-2025

The Oklahoma Sooners are a host seed in ESPN’s way-too-early Women’s Bracketology for the 2024-2025 season.

The Oklahoma Sooners have made it to the NCAA tournament’s round of 32 each of the last three seasons, but haven’t been able to break through to the sweet 16. Jennie Baranczyk has worked to create a roster capable of taking the Sooners on a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

She’s retained a ton of talent off of last year’s Big 12 championship team and added arguably the best transfer in the portal in former Oregon State forward Raegan Beers.

But the Sooners will take on new challenges as they make their way into the SEC. Still, the folks over at ESPN believe Oklahoma has a chance to make an impact in the 2024-2025 NCAA tournament.

In their way too early bracketology for next season, ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the Sooners as a four seed in the Spokane region, but hosting the opening two rounds of the tournament in Norman. Joining Oklahoma in the bracket projection are No. 5 Nebraska, No. 12 Gonzaga, and No. 13 Ball State. If the Sooners were able to hold home court, they’d advance to the sweet 16 where they could potentially take on the region’s No. 1 seed Notre Dame.

The Sooners were on the cusp of making their first sweet 16 appearance, but couldn’t find buckets down the stretch as Indiana pulled away. But the Sooners have a talented roster that keeps getting better and better under one of the better coaches in the country. Will 2024-2025 be the season the Sooners make a run to the Final Four? They’ve got the team to do it.

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Jennie Baranczyk building the Oklahoma Sooners into a contender

Jennie Baranczyk is building the Oklahoma Sooners into a contender and the addition of Raegan Beers is the latest sign of the program’s upward trajectory.

[autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners hit a home run in their recruitment ofOregon State transfer Raegan Beers. Beers, a third-team All-American, chose the Sooners over perennial powerhouse UConn, putting quite the feather in the cap of Baranczyk and her staff.

In Beers, the Sooners added one of the best players available in the transfer portal. She was really good in the NCAA tournament, helping Oregon State reach the Elite 8 before being ousted by eventual champion South Carolina. In the Beavers four games, she averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game. In addition to her ability as a post scorer, she’s good defender that brings a physical element inside.

It’s an addition that will give the Sooners an opportunity to break through the round of 32 glass ceiling Oklahoma’s run into the last three seasons. They came close against Indiana, but couldn’t find a bucket late as the Hoosiers pulled away.

But with everyone that’s returning for 2024-2025 and the addition of Beers, the Sooners are now a Sweet 16 and Elite 8 contender in their own right.

The Sooners have had regular season success in a strong Big 12 conference. Baranczyk has led them to back-to-back Big 12 championships. But this staff hasn’t rested on that success. They know there’s more this program can accomplish. The addition of Beers, coupled with the talent they have coming back, gives the Sooners a boost that could propel them deep into the NCAA tournament.

The Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball program is on the verge of breaking through to contender status. New challenges await as they venture into the SEC, but Jennie Baranczyk and her staff have been doing a great job with high school and transfer portal recruiting in addition to roster retention. She and her staff have created a culture that the players are buying into. There’s an energy in the program that has created an upward trajectory for the Sooners.

And beyond the culture, Baranczyk and her staff have proven to be really good basketball tacticians, helping the team create offense and get easy buckets. The addition of Beers adds a post element where the Sooners weren’t consistent enough in 2023-2024.

Beers proves the Sooners are capable of contending on the recruiting trail with the top teams in the nation. And with a reloaded roster, Baranczyk and the Sooners are off to prove they’re capable of contending with the best teams in the nation on the hardwood.

Everything’s there for the Sooners to be great in 2024-2025 and it’s time for the fan base to buy in as well.

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Oklahoma Sooners add All-American transfer Raegan Beers

“Deep down, I’m a Sooner.”

After leading Oregon State to the elite 8, All-American Raegan Beers announced her commitment to the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball program continues to solidify itself at the national level during Jennie Baranczyk’s tenure at the helm. They’ve made three consecutive NCAA tournaments and advanced to the round of 32 each season.

This year, they were a few possessions away from advancing to the Sweet 16 before falling to Indiana in Bloomington. But Baranczyk and her staff haven’t settled on that success. They’ve continually looked to improve the roster and hit a home run on Monday adding All-American transfer Raegan Beers.

Beers, a forward from Colorado, played two seasons for Oregon State. She was the Pac-12 freshman of the year in 2022-2023 after averaging 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. She started six games that season before starting all 31 games for the Beavers in 2023-2024. Last year, Beers averaged  17.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, recording 16 double-doubles for an Oregon State team that went 27-8 and finished fourth in the Pac-12.

She was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection and earned third-team All-American honors from the Associated Press as a sophomore.

In Oregon State’s elite eight run, Beers averaged 15.75 points per game. In their loss to eventual national champion South Carolina, she scored 16 points had eight rebounds and three blocks, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free throw line.

Beers adds another inside presence to a Sooners lineup that will bring back a number of key pieces from their NCAA tournament team.

With the addition of Beers, the back-to-back defending Big 12 champions are loaded for their first run in the SEC, a conference that features women’s basketball powers South Carolina, LSU, and Tennessee.

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Oklahoma Sooners survive Florida Gulf Coast upset bid to advance in NCAA Tournament

After trailing for all of the entirety of the first half, the Oklahoma Sooners rallied to beat Florida Gulf Coast 73-70 to advance.

In their opening-round matchup, the Oklahoma Sooners were put to the test by No. 12 seed and ASun champion Florida Gulf Coast.

Oklahoma fell behind in the first quarter by as much as 12 points and were down 10 after the first 10 minutes. But [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag]’s squad responded with a big second quarter to trail by just two at halftime.

The Sooners shot it well in the first, but Florida Gulf Coast forced them into four turnovers, and the Eagles earned four offensive rebounds to keep the pressure on the No. 5 seed Oklahoma.

In the second quarter, the Sooners turned up the defensive pressure, holding the Eagles to just 26.7% shooting after they shot 47% in the first quarter. That defensive effort allowed Oklahoma to cut into the deficit.

Oklahoma’s dynamic forward duo [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag] and [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] led the way with 10 points apiece.

The second half featured a back-and-forth affair with each team taking leads throughout the final 20 minutes.

Battling an injury, Vann continued her dynamic NCAA Tournament performance with 14 second-half points, including six fourth-quarter points and a free throw that gave OU a three-point lead in the final seconds of the game. [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] came up clutch with seven of her 11 points in the fourth, including what turned out to be the game-winner with under a minute to play.

For the game, Vann scored 24 points on 9 of 18 shooting to lead the way for the Sooners who had just three players in double figures in the win.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Emani Jefferson had a fantastic game, with 22 points and 12 rebounds to give the Sooners fits.

For the game, Oklahoma held Florida Gulf Coast to just 37% shooting and the Sooners only led for a total of 7:57 of game time.

The Sooners survived and now will take on the host Indiana Hoosiers in the round of 32 on Monday. Gametime is currently to be determined.

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Oklahoma Sooners open Big 12 tournament play with big win over TCU Horned Frogs

The Oklahoma Sooners led from start to finish in their 69-53 Big 12 tournament win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

It didn’t take long for the top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners to find their footing in the Big 12 tournament in their 69-53 win over the TCU Horned Frogs. The Sooners led from start to finish.

Oklahoma opened up a 10-point lead in the first quarter and pushed it to 12 early in the second quarter. But the Horned Frogs didn’t go quietly in the first half, closing the first 20 minutes of play down just five. TCU outscored the Sooners by four in the second frame.

[autotag]Lexy Keys[/autotag] led the Sooners in scoring in the first half, scoring nine points on three of three shooting from the three-point line. Aubrey Joens had five points in the first quarter.

It was a back-and-forth third quarter, and TCU even pulled within three points with just under two minutes to play in the quarter. But in the fourth, the Sooners began to pull away with a 17-11 final 10 minutes.

The Sooners had a fantastic game in the paint, outscoring the Frogs 30-14 and outrebounding TCU 46-35. Oklahoma shot 42% from the field and 42% from three while holding TCU to just 29% shooting from the field.

True freshman [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] led Oklahoma in scoring for the game, with 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting. She was one of two from three and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. She turned it on in the second half with 13 points for the Sooners.

The Sooners move on to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament, where they’ll take on Iowa State on Monday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

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Jennie Baranczyk named Big 12 Coach of the Year, Skylar Vann Co-Player of the Year

Led by Jennie Baranczyk and Skylar Vann, several Sooners earn Big 12 women’s basketball regular season awards.

After a tremendous run in Big 12 play, several Sooners were honored with Big 12 regular season awards.

In her second year at Oklahoma, [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag] was named Big 12 coach of the year after leading the Sooners to their second straight Big 12 regular season title. This after a 6-5 performance in the nonconference portion of the Sooners schedule.

The Sooners are the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament and looking to make a statement as they push for a host seed in the NCAA tournament.

Oklahoma received a lot of big-time contributions this season and several players were honored with awards. [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag], who leads the Sooners in scoring and rebounds at 15 points and 7 rebounds a game, was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Year alongside Madison Booker of Texas. The Edmond, Okla. native at nine 20-point games in 2023-2024.

[autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag], who joined the Sooners after two seasons at Louisville, really came on strong in Big 12 play. Verhulst was second on the Sooners in points and rebounds. She earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors after averaging 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. In Big 12 play, Verhulst scored 15 or more seven times, including a 25-point effort against Iowa State.

Oklahoma’s spark plug, [autotag]Neveah Tot[/autotag], earned a Big 12 honorable mention selection. As did Sooners’ freshman [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag].

The Oklahoma Sooners really came together during conference play, where they went 15-3 and picked up big wins over No. 2 Kansas State, swept Texas, and beat Baylor in a top-25 showdown. Oklahoma will wait to see who emerges from the early stages of the Big 12 tournament but have a great shot to take home the tournament title.

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