Payton Verhulst – Syndication Server

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.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Oklahoma Sooners lose to the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals again

Sooners Big 12 tournament run is over as they fall to the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

It was just one season ago the Oklahoma Sooners were co-regular season Big 12 champs and headed into the semifinals of the [autotag]Big 12 tournament[/autotag] to take on the [autotag]Iowa State Cyclones[/autotag]. The Sooners would go on to lose that game.

Now, they came into the rematch as Big 12 regular season champs, ready to face the Cyclones again. Iowa State jumped on the Sooners early with a quick 18-7 lead. The Sooners were able to battle back and got it to a three-point game in the second quarter after a [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] three.

That’s when the Cyclones really started to put their stamp on the game as they finished the quarter on a 17-6 run to take a 38-24 lead at the half. The second half was much like the end of the first half and was completely dominated by the Cyclones. The Sooners were never able to get it closer than the 14 points at the half. The Cyclones led by as many as 28 points in the second half.

The Cyclones coasted in the fourth quarter and beat the Sooners 85-68, ending the Sooners’ Big 12 tournament run. The Sooners shot 36.1% from the field and 30.3% from three, while Iowa State shot 57.9% from the field and 52.2% from three.

[autotag]Audi Crooks[/autotag] dominated the Sooners and led the way with 25 points and nine rebounds. For the Sooners, [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] had 16 points and five rebounds, and [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] had 23 points and seven rebounds.

Now, the Sooners wait for selection day to find out where they will be headed in the NCAA tournament. The biggest question now is if they’ve done enough to earn a top-four seed in the tournament, which would allow them to host the first two rounds in Norman.

But there is no question they’ve done a great job turning things around after how much they struggled earlier in the season.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Best Photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over TCU in the Big 12 tournament

A look at the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners 69-53 Big 12 tournament win over the TCU Horned Frogs.

In her first collegiate tournament game, [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] showed up in a big way. Williams led the way with 17 points, 13 of which came in the second half of the Oklahoma Sooners win over the TCU Horned Frogs in the Big 12 tournament.

Williams was 5 of 11 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and recorded eight rebounds along the way. Williams’ performance helped propel the Sooners while [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag] and [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] combined to shoot 5 for 18.

[autotag]Lexy Keys[/autotag] was the only other Sooner in double-figures, scoring 11. She was 3 of 4 from three and 4 of 5 from the field.

The Sooners now move on to the Big 12 tournament semifinals where they’ll take on Iowa State. The Sooners beat the Cyclones 86-72 back in February.

Verhulst had a career-high 25 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists on the road in Ames.

Here are the best photos from Oklahoma’s win over TCU.

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.

How to watch, key players for No. 20 Oklahoma Women’s Basketball at Kansas Jayhawks

The Big 12 regular season women’s champs are back in action for one final regular season game and here is how you can watch them.

It is time for the country to start noticing what the Oklahoma Sooners are doing right now. They just completed the season sweep of the Texas Longhorns with a great game earlier this week.

That win also clinched them the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] regular season championship for the second season in a row. They moved to 15-2 in the conference with one game to play and them being ranked No. 20 is criminally low. If they beat the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] and aren’t top 12 next week, there should be an investigation.

I’m only kidding, kind of.

Still, there is work to be done as the Sooners don’t want to fall to a Kansas team that is 17-11 on the season and who they only beat by five in Norman earlier in the year. So, let’s take a look at how you can watch the game and some key players.

Best Photos from the Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball dominant Bedlam win

A look at some of the best photos from Oklahoma Women’s Bedlam domination of Oklahoma State.

On an afternoon when they celebrated 50 years of Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball, Jennie Baranczyk’s squad put on a clinic.

The Sooners completed the Bedlam sweep with a 35-point domination of the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. In the process, Baranczyk moved to 6-0 against Oklahoma State and the Sooners are now 14-2 in Big 12 play and 20-7 overall.

True freshman [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] had a career-high 20 points, and [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] continued her fantastic couple of months with a double-double. [autotag]Lexi Keys[/autotag] scored her 1,000th career point in college basketball on what turned out to be a historic day for the Sooners.

The Sooners were up by just eight at halftime and then proceeded to outscore the Cowgirls by 27 points in the second half to earn the win.

This sets up a Red River Rivalry rematch that could decide the Big 12 championship on Wednesday. If the Sooners win, they’ll clinch an outright Big 12 title. If Texas wins, it’ll all come down to Saturday where Oklahoma could earn at least a share of the conference title with a win over Kansas.

Here are some of the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in Bedlam.

How to watch, key players for No. 23 Oklahoma Women’s Basketball vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls

The ranked women’s team are back in action also in Bedlam and this is how you can watch the game.

The Oklahoma Sooners were able to bounce back after a tough loss to West Virginia with a good win on the road at Cincinnati. Now, they are also playing their final Bedlam game as conference foes but this time in Norman.

The Sooners won the first meeting in Stillwater 81-74. The Cowgirls come into this game losing three of their last five games but they did get a good win at home over the [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag] in their last game.

Oklahoma continues to have a hold on the conference as they have a one-game lead over Texas and [autotag]Kansas State.[/autotag] They currently lose the tie-breaker to Kansas State but win the tie-breaker over Texas who they will play again coming up.

But let’s take a look at how you can watch the game and some key players for both teams.

How to watch, key players for No. 23 Oklahoma Women’s Basketball vs. Cincinnati Bearcats

The Sooners women’s team are back in action to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats. Here is how you can watch the game.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ nine-game winning streak came to a heartbreaking end on Saturday as they fell at West Virginia. The Sooners had a chance to tie the game with one second left but missed the first free throw and then had a lane violation on the second one.

Now, they must bounce back as they still lead the Big 12 with four games to play. They take on a [autotag]Cincinnati Bearcats[/autotag] team they beat earlier in the year by 13 in Norman. But this one is on the road for the Sooners. The Bearcats are on a three-game losing streak and are 12-13 overall.

So, let’s take a look at how you can watch the game and some key players to watch.

Oklahoma Sooners fall in close game to the West Virginia Mountaineers

The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team’s nine game winning streak ended after a close loss to the Mountaineers.

The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team was back in action hoping to win their 10th straight game and keep their two-game lead in the conference. They took on the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag] who possess one of the nation’s top defenses in the country.

The Sooners started red hot as they went on an 11-3 run to start the game. But that great defense for the Mountaineers settled in and they were able to tie it up at 18 at the end of the 1st Quarter.

The 2nd Quarter was a back-and-forth affair. The Mountaineers jumped up 26-20 early in the quarter before the Sooners stormed back and ultimately took the 32-31 lead into halftime.

At half [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] led the Sooners with 12 points on 4/5 shooting from 3. [autotag]Reyna Scott[/autotag] was big off the bench scoring six and shooting 2/3 from the field. The Mountaineers were led by [autotag]JJ Quinerly[/autotag] with seven but they had six players score four or more. The big key was the Sooners having double-digit first-half turnovers which kept the Mountaineers in the game.

The 3rd Quarter was similar to the first half. Quinnerly was really strong in the quarter, scoring six in the frame. [autotag]Kyah Watson[/autotag] also added six. [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag] who struggled in the first half, finished with four in the quarter.

Thanks to five more turnovers by the Sooners, the Mountaineers led for much of the time but a three-pointer with 38 seconds left by Verhulst gave the Sooners the 48-47 lead going to the 4th Quarter.

The 4th Quarter couldn’t have started worse for the Sooners.
They turned it over on three of their first four possessions. That helped the Mountaineers to go on a 5-0 run to give them the 52-48 lead. Just when it looked like the Mountaineers were going to run away with it, Vann drills a huge three to cut the lead to two just before the five-minute mark. But the Mountaineers responded to get it to a six-point lead before Verhulst made a nice post move to cut it to four with 4:05 left.

Verhulst did everything she could to keep the Sooners in it. After Vann dived on a loose ball, she found Verhulst who buried a three to cut the lead to one with 1:46 left.

The Sooners got down 68-61 but Neveah Tot hit a layup, Watson turned it over and then Tot hit a three to cut it to two. They fouled and West Virginia missed two free throws. They hit Tot on the run to the basket and she was fouled. She missed the first free throw and then had a lane violation on the second free throw to seal the Sooners’ defeat.

They fell 70-66 as turnovers, free throws and points off turnovers ended up being their downfall. The Sooners turned it over 25 times, went 5/11 from the line and allowed 23 points off of turnovers.

The Sooners were led by Verhulst who finished with 20 points on 6/8 from 3. The Sooners move to 18-7 (12-2) and hold a one-game lead over the Mountaineers, the Texas Longhorns and the Kansas State Wildcats. They lose the tiebreaker to the Wildcats and Mountaineers. They currently hold the tiebreaker over the Longhorns but face them again later on in the season.

They’ll be back in action on Tuesday at Cincinnati at 5:00 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Sooners Roll: Best Photos from Oklahoma Women’s win over Baylor

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up another big win and here are some of the best photos from their performance against Baylor.

Few teams are playing better basketball right now than the Oklahoma Sooners women’s team. With their 84-73 win over the Baylor Bears, they moved to 12-1 in Big 12 play and 18-6 on the season.

The win over Baylor saw five Sooners score in double figures. [autotag]Kiersten Johnson[/autotag] led the way with a career-high 20 points. [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] added 16, [autotag]Nevaeh Tot [/autotag]and [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] chipped in 14, and despite some foul trouble, Skylar Vann rallied with eight points in the fourth quarter to help the Sooners seal the win.

The Sooners earned the 11-point win despite shooting just 24.8% from three-point range. The win came in large part due to Oklahoma’s defense. They held the Bears to 36.8% from the field and forced 17 turnovers.

Now, after Kansas State’s loss to Iowa State Wednesday night, the Sooners sit two games up in the regular season conference title race with five games to go. They’ll have their challenges, but with the way Jennie Baranczyk has her team playing, it’s hard to imagine the Oklahoma Sooners not having success down the stretch.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners win over the Baylor Bears.

More: Social media reacts to Oklahoma’s win over Baylor