Sooner Women's BB back in LNC Tonight vs Northwestern State (LA)

[OUBeliever56A]

Coach Baranczyk leads her Women's Basketball squad back into LNC tonight to start a four game home stand after being away for LNC for almost 3 weeks. The Sooners return with a 5-1 record. Northwestern State arrives in Norman with a 2-3 record. After the Sooners only loss of the season against Utah, the Sooners have rebounded with two solid wins in the state of Texas and Arkansas. Maybe the familiar rims and floor will be good for the Sooner offense tonight.

The Sooners will celebrate Native American Heritage before and during the game.

Here is the staff writers article about the game tonight at 6 PM.

https://soonersports.com/news/2022/11/2 ... -wednesday

Good luck to the ladies tonight.

Boomer Sooner!

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The national polls in women's basketball is interesting. To me, what is interesting is the feelings about the Big 12 teams. Only Iowa State is in the Top 15 teams.

In the AP Poll:
- Iowa State is #8 (5-1) - Down from the Top 5 last week. The Cyclones lost to North Carolina last week.
- Baylor is #21 (5-2)
- Texas is #22 (3-3) - Texas lost 3 straight to UConn, Marquette and Louisville. Both UConn and LOU are ranked.
- Oklahoma is unranked but has the most votes of the unranked teams - essentially ranked #26.

In the USA/Coaches Poll:
- Iowa State is #8 (5-1) - Down from the Top 5 last week.
- Texas is #18 (3-3)
- Baylor is #21 (5-2) - Baylor has lost to Michigan and Maryland, both teams are ranked.
- Oklahoma is #23 (5-1) - Utah the team that beat OU (badly) is 6-0 and ranked #16 in both polls.

[OUBeliever56A]

It is true that the game between Northwestern State (LA) was not much of a game. After taking a full week away from games to return to practice and to have Thanksgiving, the Sooner Women swept across the floor to outmatch and outsize their opponents by the score of 88-45. The Sooners led 23 12 after the 1Q, 47-20 at half and 69-30 after 3Q.

Imagine how bad it could have been if OU had not turned the ball over 21 times and suffered 12 steals in the process. Northwestern scored nearly half of their points off of Sooner turnovers (19 out of 43). The Sooners dominated on the boards with 65 rebounds to 25 for their opponents. OU had 47 offensive rebounds. That lead to 48 points in the paint for OU and 21 second chance points for OU.

I did not notice this while at the game, but one of the articles I read said that Kelbie Washington and Kaley Perkins were at the game sitting on the bench. I saw Perkins but missed Washington. Neither player is released yet to start practicing as they are recovering from injuries. It is good they are both back with the team. Perkins has been there but this may be the first time for Washington.

Here is the post game staff writers article about the win.

https://soonersports.com/news/2022/11/3 ... -point-win

As a fan, this game probably did the Sooners little good. I would say that they really did not play that well in the game. I would also say that I thought the coaching and the effort displayed by Northwestern State was impressive. I think they will win their share of games against their level of competition. The have four to five solid players for their level but do not have a lot of size on the floor to help inside.

Back to the Sooners. Vann was a one-woman rebound in much of the game for the Sooners. I thought her hustle and effort was strong during the game. She scored 13 points and had 12 rebounds. In only 17 minutes of playing time, Madi Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds. In 22 minutes of playing time, Aubrey Joens scored 11 points and added 11 rebounds of her own.

Coach Baranczyk was complimentary of the teams willingness to share the ball in the game and cited the 21 assist for the Sooners. Vann led the way there also with 4 nice passes. But to me, she glossed over the 21 turnovers by the Sooners. Freshman guard Reyna Scott had 7 of those TOs in 20 minutes of playing time. For her to be a very good passer and handler of the ball, IMO, the 7 turnovers is a poor game on her part. I also though the Sooners have gotten used to catching the ball in 3-point territory and if someone is not right there on them, they shoot the ball. They do not look inside to see if a 'big' has position for a layup or turnaround bucket or anything. It seems okay to just shoot a 3. The 3 starters of Tot, Llanusa and Robertson were 4 of 15 last night from 3-point range. They (Llanusa and Tot) were 5 of 6 inside the 3-point line. the rest of the team was 5 of 17 from downtown with Joens taking 8 of those shots. Joens made 3 of the long range buckets. For the game the Sooners shot 28.1% from 3-point range. Overall they shot 48.6% as they shot as they shot a blistering 26 of 40 for 65% from inside the 3-point line. The Sooners were also 9 of 11 at the free throw line.

I fully understand that the Sooners are going to run and they are going to shoot 3's. But right now the turnovers and the low shooting % from downtown is hampering them from being a better team IMO. I think that the Sooners were playing much, much better last year at this time than they are now. I do not understand that and I am not sure that the team understands that. They Sooners are playing 11 players regularly. that might be 2 to many for them to be sharp as a team. Vann, R Scott and Joens are important players off the bench as they compliment the starters; Tot, Llanusa, Robertson, Williams and L Scott.

[EDIT - This info is incorrect] Sunday they play Mississippi State at 2 PM at LNC. Mississippi State is 6-2 on the season. They have played five blow out games against small schools and had one win over Colorado State at home is a close game. they have lost to South Dakota State on the road by 1 point and to Nebraska by 8 in Puerto Rico. They do not have a dominate scorer but they have some size inside (6'5", 6'1", 6'0" and 6'4") in their top 8 players.

[EDIT - This info is correct] The Sooners play Ole Miss on Sunday at 2 PM at LNC. Ole Miss is 7-1 on the season their best win is probably a win over Dayton by 13 points. Their lone loss is to Utah by only 2 points in the Bahamas. (Remember that Utah blew OU out of the gym in the second of two back-to-back games.) Size wise, the Rebels are about the same size as the Sooners with the exception of Tot giving up a few inches. Ole Miss plays 7 players 20 minutes or more. the have an inside preference with Scott and Singleton as they total 15 rebounds and 17 points a game.

I think Sunday may be an important game for the Sooners. While, I do not think that Ole Miss is a strong team as they have no votes at all in the polls. Despite that, I think the Sooners have to play well Sunday to win the game as they should comfortably. Typically big teams that can play defense are effective against the Sooners. They are even better against OU when OU does not shoot well from long range. The Sooners need to be focused come Sunday. I hope the Sooner Women are ready for a challenge as Ole Miss needs a win over a good team. I hope the game is an important game because the Sooners show up and play well, not because they received a wake-up call.

Good luck to the Sooners on Sunday.

Boomer Sooner!

[AustinTXSooner]

From the TV coverage, you could clearly see Kelbie and Kaley in street clothes at multiple points during the game.

I was maybe a little more optimistic about our play, the turnovers notwithstanding. Our turnovers by quarter were: 4, 5, 8, and 4.

[OUBeliever56A]

I am glad you verified that you saw Kelbie. I must be blind to not have seen her. I do think the Sooners miss her tenacity on defense and her quickness.
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As for your optimism and my frustration. Yeah, I might be a bit down on them right now. Maybe too much also. I just had very high expectations for them in 2023. IMO, I would say that they have not played well yet in the young season.

I had hopes that the new freshman would really add a great deal to the team as well. While I think Reyna Scott is a very good player who can play perhaps as well as Madi Williams in the future, she is not close to doing that right now. I hope she kicks it in soon. The two inside players have potential, but both have flaws. Culliton could become good but right now I see her as a better version of Svoboda but not by that much. Johnson is long and lean and has some versatility. but her shot mechanics need a great deal of work especially in the paint. Right now she is better outside when she shoots. While that helps, that is not what the Sooners need right now. Cooper has not played enough to tell about her, but she is quick and athletic.

As for the returners. Llanusa has played hard and may be the best defensive player we have. But her shot has not returned yet. Robertson is not shooting well either currently. Williams is playing well as she should. Tot is playing well and knows what Coach B wants from her. Liz Scott is good in spurts, but she probably can play maybe 20 effective a game. That leaves 20 minutes to fill. Vann can do that and she seems to always give effort and plays well. But she leaves the Sooners undersized inside. Joens has brought good things with her from Iowa State. She probably should get a bit more time on the court. Tucker is a very good defensive player, but is not a scorer. She does score at times, but I do not know if she can score consistently.

The constant substitutions make it difficult to keep a balance of scorers, size inside and defense on the floor at all times. The coaches are trying hard to find the mix of players but it is hard to do.

I wish there was a bit more emphasis on possession efficiency on offense rather than just number of possessions. By that I mean, Work for the inside sure bucket for 10 - 15 seconds, then utilize the 3 point shot late in the possession. That shot is always there if needed with the outside OU players. The number of 7-second possessions that end with a long 3-pointer than clanks of the rim for a defensive rebound become monotonous at times.

I guess I just want more from the team in 2023. They have a chance to make the second weekend of the tourney. They need to improve to do so.

Boomer Sooner!