Sooner Women's BB Host Cincy Saturday @ Noon - Is 3-0 Possible?

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners Women's Basketball Team will attempt to start their Big 12 conference play with a 3-0 record on Saturday as they host the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Noon tipoff game at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have opened up their conference play with wins over UCF and BYU to give them a 2-0 start in conference and a 8-5 overall record. Cincinnati enters the game on Saturday with a 0-2 Big 12 conference record with losses to Kansas State and West Virginia. The Bearcats are 8-5 overall. Saturday's game is the first game ever between Cincinnati and the Oklahoma women's team.

Tip is set for noon on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and former OU women's basketball standout Whitney Hand Jones on the call. A win on Saturday would mark the Sooners (8-5, 2-0 Big 12) first 3-0 start in conference play since 2016-17. Here is the Sooner staff writers pre-game article about the matchup with Cincinnati. There is a radio link in the article below.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/1/5/ ... 12-contest

The comparison of stats between OU and Cincy favors the Sooners. On offense, OU shoots almost 6% better from the field. The Sooners shoot 10+% better from inside the arc and 3.5% better from beyond the arc. But, Cincy does shoot 4% better from the free throw line. Cincinnati does go to the free throw line as as they have shot 53 more freebies than the Sooners. Fouls could play a role in this game. Cincinnati puts up 59 shots per game while the Sooners attempt almost 69 shots a game. If you shoot more times and shoot better than the other team, a win should be predictable in most games.

Oklahoma does turn the ball over three more times a game than does Cincinnati, but in the last two games OU has only turned the ball over 14 and 12 times. If the Sooners can minimize the turnovers, it should add more fuel to a potential win on Saturday. OU also rebounds better than tdoes Cincinnati with 46.6 rebounds per game compared to 41.4 for Cincy. the offensive rebounds for the two teams are within 5 of each other. But OU does need to work hard on the boards in every game.

The last several games, Cincinnati has started two forwards (6'1" and 6'4") and three guards (all over 5'8"). The offense for the Bearcats goes through the bigs, Hayes (#20) and Williams (#22) who led the team in scoring with 12.9 and 9.3 points a game. The three guards score 20.2 points per game. Cincinnati does not shoot many threes as they have shot 130 less three's than has OU. As a team they only shoot 25.7% from long distance.

Two players that have not played the last few games (due to injury?) might make a difference for Cincy if they play. #32 Destiny Thomas is a 6'4" Center who has not played the last three games. When she plays, she has started giving the Bearcats 3 bigs on the floor to start the game. A guard, #3 Mya Jackson, ha splayed well when she was out there in 6 of the games this year.

Five subs play most games for the Bearcats. There are two bigs and 3 guards that play off the bench. As a group, they score about 15 points and pull down about 14 rebounds. Byars (a big) and Dia, a swing player, can play some off the bench.

Cincy will try to play a full court pressure game on defense after a made bucket or a dead ball. But their front three play really high in the press. If the ball gets by the 3 of them, the bucket can be wide open. I think if OU can handle the first two passes well, that the Sooners can run Cincy out of their press. But those first two passes and locations of the pass have to be true.

OU may have to play on Saturday without Neveah Tot who did not play after she exited the BYU game on Wednesday early in the 2Q. If she does not start, I would guess that either Reyna Scott or Aubrey Joens start in her place. I think it will be Scott that gets the start as Joens is valuable of the bench. Scott has seemed to add a driving game to her play to get shots and get fouled. I think it is a good addition to her game. It Tot is able to play, it will add depth to OU's game.

In the last few games, Vann has settled in to play pretty well. She has moved more inside playing at the elbow of the free throw line and then moving down low with the ball. She is playing more of a big forward than an outside shooter. I think it has helped the Sooners a bit. Verhulst is much the same way for the Sooners. She is concentrating more on defense inside and is even taking the initial jump ball tip to start the game with success. Keys is the defensive player of the starters as she pressures the ball well and cause many loose balls and steals. When she hits her three's and drives with the ball on offense she helps the offense a great deal.

Off the bench, the two-some of Joens and Culliton often enter the game quickly for the Sooners relieving Vann and Williams. Williams is still a player finding her place on the floor. She was a defensive player that helped against BYU in the second half. When she stays inside, she is more of a threat on offense. Not too long after, the first substitutions are made, the two-some of Johnson and Allen enter the game inside for the Sooners. Johnson has taken a positive step forward lately, especially on defense and rebounding. It is hard for me to watch her shoot, but she make enough of them to play. Tucker is playing the role of the defensive stopper for the Sooners and is doing a good job of that. She often enters the game to guard the hot scorer outside for the other team. The versatility of Vann, Verhurst and somewhat Joens and Williams is key to fill in the roles with the constant player changes for the Sooner.

Five scorers for the Sooners are scoring over 8 points agame (Vann 14.2, Joens 11.5, Verhulst 11.0, Williams 9.9 and Keys 8.4). Scott has raised her average of late to 7.4 points per game.

The key to beating the Bearcats is to limit the turnovers against the defensive pressure, shoot the ball well and rebound well, specially on defense. A fast start is always a good thing for the Sooners as well. I will always take a good shooting 1Q for the Sooners. I think the players the Sooners need to stop is Hayes and Reagan Jackson. If the big player, 6'4" Thomas plays in the game for Cincy, the inside defense will be a huge key as well.

Good luck to the Sooners on Saturday!

Boomer Sooner!

[MsProudSooner]

The last half of the 4th quarter is "Sahara Time"!

[OUBeliever56A]

When I reflect back on the game between the Sooners and Cincinnati, the game boiled down to three periods of time which resulted in a Sooner victory 77-64. the win looks a bit too easy due to the margin of victory. In the three periods of positive playing time, the Sooner outscored Cincinnati 47-16 in about 11 minutes of play. In the other 29 minutes of the game Cincy won 30-48. Those are two really different games within one game. Is that a concern or is it a characteristic of this Sooner team, I do not know. Maybe it is a little of both.

Both teams started slowly as the score was 9-9 at the 5:06 mark of the 1Q. In that time period, the 3rd 3-pointer for the Sooners was made by Lexi Keys. (That was the only long range bucket by the Sooners in the 1st half along with 16 other misses. One bucket in 17 shoots from 3 is not good.) In the final 5 minutes the Sooners outscored the Bearcats 8-0. Kiersten Johnson led OU in the last half of the 1Q with 4 points, while Joens and Verhulst added 2 points each. But OU led 17-9. (OU was 1 for 11 from 3-point range in the 1Q.)

At the end of the 2Q the score was 31-26 in favor of OU as Cincy drew closer to the Sooners. At the half, Johnson led OU in scoring with 7 followed by Scott and Keys with 5 each.

By the 4:55 mark of the 3Q, Cincinnati had dominated the play as they took a 42-34 lead as they outscored the Sooners 16-3 in the first five minutes of the second half. The Bearcats simply came out and took the ball to the bucket on the dribble or with a pass and they scored fairly easily. OU really had no solution to stop Cincy. Most of those points were scored within 6 feet of the bucket or from the free throw line. Then the tide turned quickly. The Sooners went on a 19-7 run of their own. the run went like this. Joens with a 3-pointer, then Joens added 2 free throws. Tot added a free throw followed by another 3-pointer. Williams added a bucket followed by a Vann 3-pointer, a Keys 3-pointer and a Culliton bucket. Meanwhile the Sooners defense flexed some muscle and held Cincy to 7 points as Oklahoma held a 53-49 lead after 3Q of play. The Sooners made 4 of their 7 three's in those five minutes. and the three's lift the Sooners back into the lead.

To open the 4Q, Cincinnati narrowed the Sooner lead to 2 points 57-55 by the 6:00 minute mark. Then Ms. Sahara Williams played a full game within a little over a minute of play. She made four buckets in that time period with one three included to take OU to a 66-55 lead. Williams added another 3 about 3 minutes later to make the score 71-58 in favor of OU with 2:48 left in the game. At that point the Sooner win was more or less cinch. OU won 77-64 as Williams scored 12 of the last 20 points for the Sooners.

Williams led the Sooners with 18 points on 50% shooting. She was 6 for 6 from the free throw line also. Vann and Joens added 10 points each. Verhulst added 9, Key added 8, Johnson eded with 7 points (all in the 1st half), Tot added 6, Scott 5 and Culliton added 4. Neither team shot particularly well yesterday but OU had the streaks of scoring that was the difference, especially in the 2nd half. Cincinnati outrebounded the Sooners 41 to 40 but no player had over 6 rebounds in the game.

A big key in the game was that OU only had 12 turnovers. Yep, only 12 of them. They coupled that with 23 assists and 9 steals to hold a 32 to 12 margin in the +/- of those stats. Cincinnati had 23 turnovers. On those turnovers Oklahoma scored 28 points to Cincy's 9. That 19 point difference looks like a key point to me. They were part of the 3Q run by OU and in the 4Q by Williams as well. Tot and Verhulst had 6 and 5 assists while Keys had 3 steals for Oklahoma.

Th Sooners were freezing and then hot from beyond the arc yesterday. After a 1 for 17 performance in the 1st half the Sooners were 6 of 9 in the 2nd half. 7 of 26 (26.9%) is still not very good but that 6 for 9 looks like gold in the 2nd half of play. The Sooners were 20 of 44 (45.4%) from inside the arc and 16 of 24 for 67% from the free throw line.

If you look at the +/- stats, it looks like the Sooner starters had a really good game as all five starters had a value of +15. At the game that was not evident at all. the second five wave of Sooners really gave the Sooners their lead by the end of the 1Q. I thought the second group was key in the 2Q also.

If you would have asked me if I thought OU would be 3-0 after the first three conference games a little over a month ago, I would have said, sure, probably, with a bit of confidence. If you asked me that about two weeks ago, if would have said, maybe with a little doubt. Now that they are 3-0, the future looks a little brighter for the Sooners. The next four games for the Sooners include K-State, T-Tech, Houston and Texas (7-5 in big 12 play). Those four teams are a sizeable step up in competition than the UCF, BYU and Cincy trio that are 0-9 in the Big 12.

In particular, the next game against Kansas State in Manhattan is a big key right now. Can the Sooners step up and play well against the memory of A. Lee scoring a zillion points two years ago in Manhattan. (okay it was only 61 points, but....61?) Oklahoma must prove they can play against a good big person, albeit without great mobility or quickness, with four player depth against Lee. It is perhaps a good thing that 3 of the 4 Sooner inside players were not Sooners in 2021 to remember the game. Meanwhile the Sooners have to also handle Sundell and Gregory at the same time. That game two years ago, defensively by OU and offensively by Lee was an anomaly, but it is an anomaly that has to be erased in the minds of many fans, at home and nationally. Wednesday night in Manhattan at 6 PM is a big game for OU. A win puts OU in a pretty good place. A loss, probably erases a good deal of progress over the last three games.

Good luck to the Sooners in Manhattan.

Boomer Sooner!