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Michael Voppel
oklahoma The women’s basketball team had lost three consecutive games, all to fellow ranked SEC teams: ole miss, kentucky And LSU. In the process, the Sooners dropped from No. 5 to No. 16 in The Associated Press poll. Then on Thursday, they got one of the program’s biggest wins, led by freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez.
Oklahoma upsets No. 2 South Carolina 94-82 In overtime, the program’s third win in 35 all-time games against AP’s top two opponents. Others were in 2024 vs. No. 2 kansas state And in 2004 vs. No. 2 texas.
After the game, ESPN cameras showed Sooners coach Jenny Barazek telling her team in the group, “We’re coming back!”
“What I meant to say was not, ‘We’re back, mind you,’ but it was that we’re back to who we are,” Baranczyk said. “It’s been a tough, tough, tough two weeks that feel like two months. It’s been challenging, and we’ve had tough conversations and more tears than ever before. So when I say, ‘We’re back!’ …that’s what I mean. It’s not like I’m talking nonsense.”
Chavez, one of the favorites for National Freshman of the Year, took over in overtime, scoring 15 of his game-high 26 points and shooting 5 of 5 from the field.
“It was a big thing for my teammates, because they kept telling me to keep shooting,” said Chavez, who also had 8 assists. “Just knowing that they trusted me boosted my confidence.”
Oklahoma’s 12-point victory margin is the second-largest in overtime against an AP top-two opponent in the NCAA women’s era that began in 1981–82. utah beat number 2 UCLA by 13 points on January 22, 2024, and Virginia Tech beat number 2 nc state By 12 points on January 28, 2021.
oklahoma senior center regan beer He had 18 points and 14 rebounds as a junior forward. sahara williams There were 12 and 10. senior guard Peyton Verhulst There were 19 points. The Sooners defeated South Carolina 54–39.
junior guard Tessa Johnson The senior guard led South Carolina 19-2 with 19 points. Tania Latson Was limited to six points while scoring 1 out of 10 from the field. Oklahoma’s 94 points were the most points allowed by the Gamecocks after losing 95–89. arkansas In the 2019 SEC Tournament quarterfinals, which was WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson’s senior season with South Carolina.
South Carolina coach Don Staley said of the Sooners, “We met a team that really wanted to win more, and they made winning games. And we didn’t do that.” “We didn’t do enough to win, and when you do that in our league, especially on the road, you have to pay the price for it. It’s not familiar territory for us, but our goals are still in front of us, every single one of them. We’ll survive, we’ll learn, we’ll move on.”
South Carolina hosts No. 5 Vanderbilt on Sunday (ESPN, 3 p.m. ET) and will try to hand the Commodores their first loss of the season. Vanderbilt is 20-0 tennessee At 6-0 in the SEC, South Carolina is now 5-1.
Oklahoma, 15-4 and 3-3, is getting a break from the top of the SEC now that it faces unranked golden brown color And Texas A&M before meeting AP top five teams Texas and Vanderbilt.
“I saw our energy back,” Baranczyk said. “Aaliyah especially in that overtime, I thought she was just like, ‘Let’s go!’ The joy she played with and the energy she played with…everybody on her team knows she has it.”
