OU women's basketball roars past Baylor to remain atop Big 12 with ninth straight win

NORMAN — Maybe a few weeks ago, OU isn’t able to overcome being without Skylar Vann for a long stretch.

But that was then.

Wednesday, the 23rd-ranked Sooners not only survived without Vann for long stretches. They thrived.

Then, when they needed it most, Vann took over, helping OU to an 84-73 win over No. 21 Baylor at Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners extended their winning streak to nine and cemented their place atop the Big 12 standings with the win.

Kansas State’s double-overtime loss to Iowa State later Wednesday gave OU (18-6, 12-1 Big 12) some more breathing room atop the conference standings, two games clear of the Wildcats, West Virginia and Texas.

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Vann has been the Sooners’ heart and soul this season, but she was reduced to a spectator for much of the second and third quarters.

The senior picked up her second foul just 34 seconds into the second quarter and went to the bench for the rest of the half.

Moments after Vann went to the bench, the Bears hit a 3-pointer to go up 24-21.

But OU outscored Baylor 14-5 the rest of the quarter to take a lead into the break.

Then Vann picked up her third foul just 58 seconds into the second half, and once again headed to the bench, this time until less than 2:30 remained in the quarter.

The Sooners stretched the lead to 11 by the time Vann re-entered.

“Obviously it’s not ideal but we’re a team and that happens,” Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “So teams have to cover for teams and that’s exactly what I felt like we did today.”

Sophomore Kiersten Johnson, who scored a career-high 20 and also added five rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, said the Sooners were in much better position to handle a situation like they faced against Baylor now than they were earlier in the season.

“We’ve gotten a lot closer,” Johnson said. “I think we understand each other now. You’ve been with someone so long and you get to know their mannerisms — what they do, how they act, how they respond. I think that’s just really us. We’re not fake about it.”

The Sooners lost to Southern on Dec. 22 in their non-conference finale, with Vann suffering an injury late in that game.

Since, OU has not only gone 12-1 but has evolved into a much different team.

“Jennie’s talked a lot this year about, we can’t live in the valleys, we can’t live on top of the mountain because if you live on top of the mountain, there’s nowhere else to go but down,” Payton Verhulst said. “Obviously for us this whole year we’ve kind of experienced both — being on bottom and being on top. I think, for us, that goes in the game too. In a game like this where Skylar might be in foul trouble, we’re not just thrown completely off. We have people coming off the bench able to provide and I think that shows so much about Jennie’s style of play is that we have an entire team ready to go out there and make a difference in the game. It’s not just one or two people.”

Here are three more takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

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Skylar Vann takes over late

When Vann came back in the game after her foul trouble, the Sooners didn’t exactly take over.

Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said she felt like her team was trying to force the offense to run through Vann instead of letting the game flow.

Baylor scored nine consecutive points in the fourth quarter to cut the Sooners’ lead to four, 72-68, with 4:47 to play, just a few moments after OU looked to be in control, up 13.

But then, Vann went to work and the Sooners’ defense came up big coming out of Baranczyk’s timeout call.

Vann hit jumpers on back-to-back possessions to stretch the lead back to eight, then grabbed an offensive rebound that ultimately led to another bucket as OU’s defense forced turnovers on three consecutive Baylor possessions.

In a flash, the Sooners’ lead was back to 10.

“I think it just rest us a little bit,” Baranczyk said. “It wasn’t a timeout where I’m going to lay into ’em and start yelling at ’em and telling them to get it together and all those kinds of things. Sometimes it’s just a reset. … A lot of it is just about our collective response and I think when we understand that we’re in charge of our response and no one else is, then we respond. And it’s pretty neat.”

Vann scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Kiersten Johnson has career game

Sophomore Kiersten Johnson had been solid lately, including tying her career high with 11 points in OU’s last home game, vs. TCU a week earlier.

Against Baylor, Johnson took it to a different level, finishing with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Johnson scored 10 of her points in the first quarter — the last 10 Sooners points of the quarter as Baylor trimmed what was a 10-point lead down to as little as one late in the quarter.

Baylor coach Nicki Collen said her team was content with giving Johnson some open looks from outside early, but that Johnson elevated her game from there.

“We were willing to give up a couple jump shots to her early and see if she’d make them but I think her driving by us, I think her posting us up, we have to have more pride in those situations in terms of meeting her early, not letting her get to deep spots,” Collen said. “I thought she was really, really good.”

Johnson also added three blocks.

Perhaps Johnson’s biggest block came on Aijha Blackwell’s layup try about midway through the third quarter.

Payton Verhulst was able to get her hand on the ball but wasn’t in a position to control the rebound.

So Verhulst directed it off the fallen Blackwell and out of bounds, giving the Sooners the possession.

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs returns home

Former Classen SAS star Darianna Littlepage-Buggs has continued to thrive at Baylor.

Littlepage-Buggs came in as one of three Bears to average at least 11 points per game.

But the sophomore struggled in her return to her home state, finishing with eight points, four turnovers and no assists on 3-of-11 shooting.

“I think she’s an energy player,” Collen said. “I don’t ever doubt her energy. I think Oklahoma does a good job of being really, really physical with her.”

The Sooners had a season-high nine blocks, with four of them coming on Littlepage-Buggs’ shots.

“I think getting blocked was frustrating,” Collen said. “But you know she’s going to consistently go to the boards, which is really important to us. You know she’s going to play with pace. She rarely plays outside of herself. She gets other people shots.”

Payton Verhulst and Kiersten Johnson had two blocks each on Littlepage-Buggs’ shots.

Verhulst finished with 16 points, a career-high tying 11 rebounds, seven assists, a career-high five blocks and a steal.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma women's basketball beats Baylor for ninth consecutive win