No. 23 Oklahoma Sooners knock off No. 21 Baylor Bears 84-73
The Oklahoma Sooners have been on a roll of late and that continued Wednesday evening in their 84-73 win over the Baylor Lady Bears on Pink Night, raising breast cancer awareness.
The Sooners have now won nine straight and remain in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 with five games remaining. The Sooners are now 18-6 and 12-1 in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma received a big-time performance from Kiersten Johnson, who had a career-high 20 points in 22 minutes off the bench. She also added five rebounds, four assists, and three blocks to fill up the box score for the Sooners.
The game was 21-19 after one quarter, but in the second, Oklahoma used an 8-3 run late in the half to pull ahead by six going into halftime. That sparked a third quarter that was all Sooners.
OU led by 13 going into the fourth quarter and with Skylar Vann only contribution two points through the first three quarters.
The Sooners maintained their big lead for much of the fourth quarter, but just passed the midway point of the frame, Oklahoma began getting a little sloppy with the basketball and taking threes early in the shot clock that weren’t falling. With just under five minutes to play, the Bears pulled to within four, and the Sooners took control the rest of the way.
After Baylor pulled within a couple of possessions, the Sooners used a 6-0 run to reestablish a 10-point lead. The two sides traded threes to keep the margin double-digits and the Sooners kept the Bears at arms length for the final few minutes of the quarter.
Despite Vann’s sluggish start, she turned it on in the fourth with eight points to help Oklahoma close out the win.
Oklahoma had five players in double figures, led by Johnson. Payton Verhulst continued her strong play of late with 16 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Verhulst added 11 rebounds and seven assists to nearly pull off the triple-double. Neveah Tot was like lightning out there, using her speed to keep Baylor off-balance. She finished with 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting, dished out four assists, and came away with four steals. Freshman Sahara Williams had a strong performance, putting up 14 points and six rebounds in the win.
Defensively, Oklahoma held Baylor under 40% shooting for the night, forced 17 turnovers and earned an edge in the rebounding department.
It was another strong team effort for Jennie Baranczyk’s crew as the Sooners continue to establish themselves as the best in the Big 12.
Oklahoma has another top-25 matchup on the horizon, traveling to Morgantown this weekend to take on the No. 24 West Virginia Mountaineers.
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