Sooner Women BB host Baylor Tonight @ 6 PM in LNC: Protect 1st !

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooner Women's Basketball Team, the 1st Place Sooners, host Baylor tonight in a fairly key game in the Big 12 season. The game is at 6 PM and is Pink Game for the Sooners. The Sooners are 11-1 in conference and still surprising some fans. The Baylor Bears are 7-5 in conference. The Bears opened conference play 3-0 with a opening win @ Texas. Since then they are 4-5 and has not won back-to-back games since the first three games. But Baylor did defeat a tough West Virginia (10-3) team at home last Saturday. The Sooners carry an 8 game winning streak into the game tonight including quality wins over Texas on the road, Kansas State at home and at Iowa State.

When you see the Baylor team on the floor, I wonder if you will think the same thing I have thought. The Bears seem to have not ran enough wind sprints in practice. It looks like about half the team needs to be in a bit better shape. That are let's say 'bulky'? But what that does is give them power inside and in crowds. They play fairly physical inside and can 'push' people around under the boards. But they are not quick at all except for a couple of players. I think the faster Oklahoma can play tonight, the better off that they will be.

Oklahoma has shot 112 more shots for the season in 23 games than Baylor. But Baylor has made the same number of buckets inside the arc as OU and 1 more "3" than OU. That means that Baylor shoots a bit better than OU. Somehow OU holds a rebounding advantage per the stats over the bigger Bears. I think rebounding inside might be a key tonight on missed shots. I think the shooting will be a key also. I guess that is basic match for basketball, but it what it boils down to just about every time. If you shoot the ball well and rebound well, you win if you take care of the basketball. The three golden rules of game.

If Keyes, or Tots, or Joens can play well tonight it will help the Sooners a great deal. It is strange to say this, but OU needs to win this game tonight to solidify their season. Another win over a team thought to be better is still needed. Baylor is ranked higher than OU in each poll and in the NET rankings. Oklahoma keeps defying the odds, and they need as many of those as they can get. Coach Baranczyk has the team playing well even when they do not play well it seems. Vann is giving all she can give for the Sooners. Verhulst seems to have settled into a role and sometimes carries the team, Tot is a solid point guard, Keyes is tenacious on defense and scores big buckets while Williams seems to disappear at times but shows up to play very well in small spurts in each game. It is a eclectic bunch of players. Culliton seems to add more than she adds on defense. Joens adds grit and long range concern. Tucker is "Ms. Defense", Johnson and Scott are like, "Here I am, I will do good or not so good but I will go hard".

I think Littlepage-Buggs and Fontleroy are the two dangerous players for Baylor. Both are tweeners at G/F/C and tough to match up with. The Sooners need to keep Andrews from making 'threes' and play tough against Andrews and Blackwell inside. If Baylor want to go big inside, they can. But I think OU runs that bunch off the floor if they make their shots.

I think OU wins another one tonight if they just can play their game and shoot well enough. I hope there is a good crowd for the women tonight. Good luck to the women tonight.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about tonight's game.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/2/13 ... nst-baylor

Boomer Sooner!

[MsProudSooner]

The Sooners, led by Peyton Verhulst and Kierston Johnson, defeat Baylor 84-73.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bas ... /401603358

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners Women's BB Team is on a roll right now. They defeated the Baylor Bears last night 84-73 at LNC in front of what I would call a disappointing crowd. I know it was Valentine's Day, but c'mon OU Student Body, there were about 15 of you in LNC outside of the Band, the Ruf/Neks and the Cheer and Pom Squads. If OU loves a winner, why aren't you at the game? But, us older folks showed up and cheered the Sooners on to victory.

My first observation is this. Coach Baranczyk has the patience of Job. I have not had that patience. For almost two season now, Coach Baranczyk has given playing time to Kiersten Johnson and Beatrice Culliton. It is beginning to pay off for the team, the two players and for Coach Baranczyk. I just couldn't see the upside that those minutes would produce until recently. It is true, that neither player is a perfect post player, but they both are beginning to do what they do consistently and pretty well also. Johnson had her career game last night with 20 points on 12 shots (8 made) and 4 of 5 free throws. she added 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. There were also 3 turnovers (the not perfect part). But if she can have double the assists/blocks that she has turnovers, she is probably okay. She made shots from the key area, she made shots on the move towards the bucket, she made a bucket on a spin move to her left, she was simply good last night. There even a bit of emotion shown by her last night. Now, I do not expect this every night from her, but she is playing pretty well for the Sooners. Kudos to her. As for Culliton, I have learned that the stats do not reflect her worth. She occupies space, important space, inside against tough post players for the other team pretty consistently. The 2 points and the 5 rebounds do not measure her worth well. She survives, no, no she holds her own against the big centers of the Sooners more and more. She does not give ground easily to anyone. She is a work in progress, but she consistently is getting better. She steadied the water inside last night in her 17 minutes (along with Johnson's 21 minutes) as Vann and Williams was in and out of the lineup. My vision of both players has been clouded by what they can't seem to do instead of what they can do. That is bad on me.

In a season where Skylar Vann has been a consistent scoring leader of the team with points and maybe rebounds, Payton Verhulst has stepped up a couple times with great games. Last night she had another double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and 1 steal. She hd 3 turnovers but some of her passes are really great. She could pick up a triple-double by the end of the season. Last night, Johnson and Verhulst were the players that might have produced the win last night.

Tot and Vann did have their minutes though. Tot scored 14 points, including a couple '3s' in big moments. She had 1 turnovers with 4 assists and ran the team very well. She also managed to not get into bad switches on defense against the Baylor guards. In the 4th quarter, Vann took over the game for a few minutes as she scored 10 points quickly and grabbed 8 rebounds. When she took over, the Sooners needed her. Williams also had her good, strong minutes as she added 14 also with 6 rebounds.

Lexi Keys is working so hard on defense every game. She is the point of the arrow on defense against a tough guard most of the time. Her effort is superb, IMO. Her occasional '3s' are always key it seems too. Reyna Scott added the final 2 points for Oklahoma along with Tucker's solid defense and Joens hustle when they played.

OU outshot Baylor inside the arc by a considerable margin - 60.4% to 37.7% which was the key stat IMO. Oklahoma made 8 more shots on only 4 more shots than Baylor had on the night. OU outrebounded Baylor by 5 also.

This win is key for the Sooners. The are outperforming all expectations, still.

Oklahoma is now 12-1 and now owns a 2-game lead in the Big 12 conference on three teams who are 10-3; Texas, WV and K-State. Last night K-State lost to I-State on the road by 3 points, 96 to 93. While OU has now won 9 in a row, Texas has won 5 games in a row. K-State is 1-3 in their last 4 games. West Virginia has won 8 of their last 9 games. I-State is 2-4 in their last 6 games and is 8-5 in conference play in 5th place.

On Saturday, 4 of those 5 teams play each other. OU travels to Morgantown to play West Virginia while I-State travels to Austin to play Texas. K-State host UCF.

I noticed this morning that Oklahoma is up to #28 in the NET rankings, a move of 8 spots by defeating Baylor. I think that is their highest NET value of the season. OU is 5th in the NET rankings among Big 12 teams. Texas is 4, K-State is 14, West Virginia is 19, Baylor is 20, I-State is 38 and Kansas is 44.

OU closes out the Big 12 play as they play @ WV, @ Cincy, OSU and Texas at home and then @ Kansas to finish.

Great job, Sooners, Coach Baranczyk and her staff.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Pink Game win of Baylor last night.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/2/14 ... -pink-game

Boomer Sooner!

[TN Sooner]

Some excellent comments on Johnson and Cullitan - they are definitely beginning to play some great ball. Beatrice, while not a true offensive force, is becoming a very effective passer at the top of the key and has begun figuring out how to defend the bigger posts that she also sees defensively.

I don’t think Johnson is going to put on enough muscle to hang in the true post defensively, but I think she can become a real problem for opposing defenses - one that might force them to remove their true post players and instead put someone on more able to hang with KJ away from the basket. It would be nice for OU to dictate the post rotation - make opposing coaches have to figure out to defend us. Very excited to see where this tandem can go.

To achieve our highest ceiling, I believe our offensive focus player needs to be Verhulst - with the defense focus on Verhulst, TOT, Vann and Keys can be their most effective.

[OUBeliever56A]

Some excellent comments on Johnson and Cullitan - they are definitely beginning to play some great ball. Beatrice, while not a true offensive force, is becoming a very effective passer at the top of the key and has begun figuring out how to defend the bigger posts that she also sees defensively.

I don’t think Johnson is going to put on enough muscle to hang in the true post defensively, but I think she can become a real problem for opposing defenses - one that might force them to remove their true post players and instead put someone on more able to hang with KJ away from the basket. It would be nice for OU to dictate the post rotation - make opposing coaches have to figure out to defend us. Very excited to see where this tandem can go.

To achieve our highest ceiling, I believe our offensive focus player needs to be Verhulst - with the defense focus on Verhulst, TOT, Vann and Keys can be their most effective.

I had this thought last night. If the Sooners can play big enough everywhere else, if Verhulst can handle the ball more as a Point Forward, the Sooners could add a new dimension to the offense.

[EMan]

Vann got in immediate foul trouble and by midway through the third quarter had only played about 7 minutes. It was definitely a night they needed other players to take up the slack, and fortunately for the Sooners, Johnson and Verhulst provided just that. It was a good solid win. The Sooners closed the first half with a little spurt that gave them a 6 point lead, and held the advantage the rest of the way. They still have their moments when they're careless with the ball, which can be frustrating at times. The one moment that immediately comes to mind was when they held a 13-pt lead in the 4th quarter, and on back-to-back possessions had the ball stolen just handing it off to a rotating guard. But with risk comes reward and they also had several thread-the-needle passes that led to easy buckets.

I have to admit, after losing Ana, Taylor and Madi to graduation, plus Liz before the season to injury, and then add in the 6-5 start I certainly geared myself up for a a less-than-stellar season this year. But lo and behold, Jennie somehow got them to weather the storm and come together as a team. Besides Vann's consistent play, one of the biggest reasons IMO is the diminutive Neveah Tot. Tot has been a steadying force throughout this win streak. She's only had 14 turnovers in the 9 games. Considering the pace OU plays at, that's incredible. And she had 5 of those 14 in one game (TCU). It's hard to complain about your starting point guard only giving up the ball once a game.

[OUBeliever56A]

Congrats to Verhulst!