OU WBB Exhibition game tonight vs West Texas A&M (6 p.m.)

[OUBeliever56A]

I am excited to go to the exhibition game for the Oklahoma Sooner Women's Basketball Team coached by Coach Jennie Baranczyk in her third season at Oklahoma. In both of Coach Baranczyk's first two seasons the Sooner made the NCAA Tourney and won their first round game before losing in the next round.

This year will be different, the threesome of Madi Williams, Taylor Robertson and Ana Llanusa are no longer on the team. Much of the success of Coach Baranczyk's first two teams were built around these two teams. In the 2023-2024 season a couple of new players will be front and center. A transfer Sophomore transfer from Louisville, Payton Verhulst, (6'1" - #12) and a Freshman Sahara Williams (5'10" - #32) will be critical to the Sooners success in the new season. Verhulst can play anywhere from point guard to perhaps the big forward position. he should run the floor well and comes to the Sooners as a scorer. Williams, can play both forward positions and is expected to be a mainstay on the court this season as a Freshman. She can play inside or outside, but her play on defense ay be the most important down low and rebounding.

Returners Skylar Vann (6'0" - #24) and Nevaeh Tot (5'3" - #1) will likely be starters also for the Sooners. Tot runs the point for the Sooners well and keeps the tempo up on the floor. When she shoots well, the Sooners usually play well and win. Vann has been a very strong player for the last two years off the bench as the 6th player. This year she will likely transition to the starters and will continue to play well. She shoots the 3 pretty well and can score play down low. She is a difficult player for other teams to match up with in Coach Baranczyk's offense. Vann's biggest contribution is her strong defense and rebounding.

The rest to me is a jumble of possibilities.

Post players.

Liz Scott (6'2" - #34) has started for most of the last two years. She has improved her game over that time. She is reliable and can be a strong player inside. She may very well start this year and play a key role inside.

Beatrice Culliton (6'3" - #0) was the second post player to see action much of last season in her freshman season. It will be interesting to see what progress she has made. She is not really a 'speed' player in Coach Baranczyk's offense but she is important on defense down low. She can earn playing minutes by rebounding and playing defense.

Kierston Johnson (6'4" - #5) has potentially a big upside for the Sooners. She is long and hopefully, stronger this season. She can be a force defensively with her blocks and potentially rebounding. She also has some ability to run the floor. Her ball handling needs to improve a bit however this year.

Landry Allen (6'3" - #25) is a new freshman joining the Sooners from Tuttle, OK. At the Champions Parade, she looked to have good size. If she can move well and score on offense, she could find herself playing inside for a freshman. Of course she needs to rebound and play defense as well. I am particularly curious about watching Allen play tonight.

Jordan Moser (6'1" - #13) is more or less a coach on the bench for the Sooners. She has not played much in the last two seasons but is a upbeat player on the bench. i do not expect that to change this year.

Wing Players:

Kennedy Tucker (5'10" - #4) is a strong defender and can run the floor. When Llanusa was injured two seasons ago, Tucker became a starter and did a good job in that role also. If Tucker could consistently score both off the dribble and on the break for the Sooners, her playing time will increase this year. Tucker may important as a shut down defender on the wing this season.

Aubrey Joens (5'9" - #20) played a role in 2022-23 as a 3-point shooter off the bench. I think that will continue in 2023-24. She can shoot the three and get her shot off quickly. She also rebounds well for her size and just seems to pick up hustle rebounds and steals regularly. She is limited a bit when the Sooners want to play a woman-on-woman defense though as Joens is not particularly quick. But she will contribute this season in an important way this season of the bench I believe.

Reyna Scott (5'10" - #2) spent her freshman season as a backup point guard. I think due to her size that she will move to the wing this season. She can play down low on defense and rebound as well. She can shoot the ball but probably in better inside the arc than outside the 3-point line. She is a passer at times but sometimes tries to force the pass too much. I think she will be a surprise player this year. She could work herself into a starting role also. Scott could also be used on defense against the bigger guards in the Big 12 conference.

Guards:

Lexi Keys (5'7" - #15) is a transfer from OSU. She could be a taller version of Tot and give the Sooners important depth in the fast paced offense of the Sooners. Keys should play many minutes this season. I do not know much about Keys, But Coch Baranczyk was positive about her play in a radio interview on KREF.

Kayla Cooper (5'9" - #11) did not play much as a freshman last season. But I think she can play. When she did play, she was quick and handled the ball well. I think Cooper has a big upside and could be a solution on defense against the bigger guards in the Big 12 conference. I think Cooper could be another surprise for the Sooners this year.

My thoughts on the starting lineup is this:

Tot G, Verhulst W, Tucker W, Vann F, L Scott C.

Next up: Culliton C / Johnson C / Allen C - Joens W / R Scott W - Keys G / Cooper G

I hope tonight that we see that up-tempo high scoring offense we have come to expect by the Sooners with a bit of a defensive improvement and some real depth on the floor for OU.

The game is on radio at KREF 1400 AM | KOKC 1520 AM

Boomer Sooner!

[TN Sooner]

I’m excited to see where this team can become. Big transition from relying on 3 key seniors to working the youngsters (new freshmen and returning sophomores) and transfers into the rotation.

I believe we may have some growing pains early, but I think our ceiling is very high for this team. I expect us to be more athletic than we were last year. It also seems we might have a couple of legitimate posts with athletic ability. It’s been a long time since we had legitimate ability in the post.

[MsProudSooner]

You can watch the replay on the exhibition game on ESPN+. Sahara Williams was advertised and Lexy Keys hit 6 3s.

Lots of intriguing possibilities this year.

Box score: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadca ... Ny4wLjAuMA..

[OUBeliever56A]

The score of the exhibition game does not really matter, but OU did win the game 113-38. In typical Coach Baranczyk style, OU had 34 fast break points on the night. The Sooners really get and down the court. In fact the first bucket of the game and season was a fast break on a perfect pass from Payton Verhulst to Sahara Williams for a layup. The first defensive play of the season was also a block by Sahara Williams, the new freshman forward for Oklahoma. It could very well be a season that is led by Ms. Williams. I did not see too much that she can not do and most everything she does well. I think Ms. Williams could be the Freshman of the Year for the Big 12 in fact. I also think Williams will be a good defender and is smart enough to stay out of foul trouble.

Payton Verhulst did what she does all night also. She is long as a 6'1" wing player and handles the ball in what could be a big point guard at times for the Sooners. She is not quite as quick as I thought she might be and, at least last night, she did not shoot the ball as well as I thought she might. She is a smart player and she plays defense also. She rebounds also. She is a good passer and handles the ball well when she goes to the bucket receiving passes. She will be strong player for OU.

Lexy Keys was a pleasant surprise to me. She is very smooth with the ball and certainly found her shot last night as she dropped in 6 three's from the corner and the top of the key. She plays good defense as well. Last night was my first look at Keys. She does what she does very well. Keys could handle the point guard duties also if needed.

Another new freshman, Landry Allen, was also pretty good in her debut as a Sooner. She was one of the first subs into the game. She is a full 6'3" with long arms and plays well with the ball over her head and with her back to the bucket. She is more a pure post player than anyone on the team and if given the ball can score with her quick high shot. All three of her buckets were on more or less post up turn around jumpers from 6 to 10 feet from the bucket. She rebounds well and get the ball out on the break as well. Her legs provide her a good base down low and I think that she will do all right against the bigs of the Big 12. She is also a good enough athlete to run the floor with the Sooners without it being a struggle. I liked Allen's game a great deal. Allen will block shots also as she had 5 blocks last night.

As for the returners, I thought Neveah Tot was her typical self and played a very strong point guard and made 4 of 5 shots with 2 three's. She will led the Sooners well this season and should not have to play big minutes with Keys and Verhulst and Reyna Scott around to split time at point.

From what I was told last night, Liz Scott has a shoulder injury and will not play this season. She was at the game and was keeping a set of stats during the game. Losing her cause a couple of things. Landry Allen will play more minutes this season. Sahara Williams and Skylar Vann will play against bigger players all season on defense. But that bigger player will likely struggle to guard Williams and Vann. Landry Allen, Beatrice Culliton and Kiersten Johnson will be important role players for the Sooners without Scott as al three will get more minutes to play. I was also told that Liz Scott will redshirt and come back and play next season for OU.

Skylar Vann will be Skylar Vann. Her outside shot did not fall last night, but it will. She has enough moves inside that she can score on most anyone and her defense is sound and she is tough down low. I like Skylar Vann's game a great deal. She is a difficult player to match up against. she can have a big year for the Sooners.

Reyna Scott played well last night with a couple nice passes and a good shot. She looks like she will not play down low as I thought she might. She will be out on the point or on the wing this season and looked mature on the floor. I think that Scott will be an important player off the bench.

Beatrice Culliton is a little thinner which will help her get up and down the floor. She is active around the bucket but still needs to work on keeping the ball high on offense. She needs to make the first shot she takes so she does not commit a foul on the rebound. Culliton will be asked to play minutes this season once again. if she can up her game a bit, she can help the Sooners in a unique way.

Aubrey Joens looked like herself last night. With Keys or Joens on the floor all the time, the Sooners will make some three's this season. Joens read a cross court pass well last night an intercepted the pass and scored on a layup on the other end last night. It is one thing that makes Joens valuable as she gets those hustle points and loose balls.

Kennedy Tucker did not get as many minutes as I thought she might last night. But the game was not close and the Sooner defense ws good against West Texas A&M. Tucker's forte is her defense play against a scorer. I think that will still be the case. OU played mostly a woman-to-woman defense last night and they looked good doing so, When needed Kennedy will be part of the defense. The Sooners would return to floor after timeouts and play various zones and then switch back to the woman-to-woman defense the next position. On one defensive series running last years zone, Tucker did look lost. I thought that was odd.

Kiersten Johnson has a much beeter base under her this season and she had added leg muscle to her frame. She still runs th efloor well as she was the receiver of four pass on breaks and she scored on those four plays. She rebounded pretty well also. But she is prone to foul as she reaches and get out of position at times. Johnson still has some work to do to become a true offensive player, but she will help the Sooners on the boards and playing against the Big 12 bigs this season.

We also had a Kayla Cooper sighting last night as she played about 9 minutes. As might be expected, she was bit timid on the floor. She needs to loosen up and just play.

The starting lineup was Vann C, Williams F, Verhulst F, Keys G and Tot G. That is not a very big lineup but that five players can get up and down the court which is the plan and they should shoot well. At one point in the game the lineup was Verhulst at point, with Reyna Scott at a guard and Williams, Vann and Landry as the bigs. That is a big lineup who can still get up and down the floor. The Sooners have a lot of pieces that can be interchangeable on the floor.

Season 3 under Coach Baranczyk should be lots of fun and hopefully lots of points and wins. I thought last night was a good start for the team. They seem to enjoy playing together and know what is expected of them. I think the Sooners will be a good team to watch play as the Sooners play the game well and with sound principals.

The Sooners first game is November 6th with a Noon tip off against Wichita State in Lloyd Noble arena.

Boomer Sooner!

[Sooner Cal]

Not sure why anyone would be surprised by Lexi. She played a lot of ball at oSu. She’ll start for OU.

I think we surprise some folks. I love our style of play. For the first time in years I feel we have the inside height to compete. A lot of new players who are getting to know each other. Depth is key and we are deeper this year, in my opinion.

[AustinTXSooner]

I was very pleasantly surprised with the play of the newcomers. Sahara Williams seems to have a lot of the same playing skills as Madi. She was a force inside, even at 5'10". She was 1-4 from the 3pt line, which doesn't tell me a lot. But she looked good and could very well be our leading scorer this year.

Lexy Keys looked good, but I knew what to expect from her.

I was really impressed with Landry Allen. She had a good looking turn around jumper in the lane. She blocked quite a few shots. Moves well. I think she's going to get a lot of playing time.

Verhulst looked good, played smart. At her height, she can move around anywhere on the court.

I'm encouraged for what they can do this year.