Advertisement

What OU women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk said about facing FGCU in March Madness

justin martinez, the oklahoman
·4 min read

NORMAN — For the third consecutive season under Jennie Baranczyk, OU women’s basketball is in the NCAA Tournament.

For the second consecutive season, the Sooners are a No. 5 seed.

The Sooners open the tournament against Florida Gulf Coast at 3 p.m. Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana.

If OU wins, it would take on either Indiana or Fairfield in the second round for a Sweet 16 berth.

Baranczyk held her first press conference since the pairings were announced.

Here’s some takeaways from what Baranczyk had to say.

More: Oklahoma women vs FGCU in March Madness: Prediction for 2024 NCAA Tournament opener

Oklahoma head women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk talks to her team in the first half of the women's Bedlam basketball game between the Oklahoma State Cowgirls and the the University of Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Oklahoma head women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk talks to her team in the first half of the women's Bedlam basketball game between the Oklahoma State Cowgirls and the the University of Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.

FGCU matchup makes for ‘fun’ game

Florida Gulf Coast has become a regular at pulling off tournament upsets, having won as a No. 12 seed three times — including each of the last two seasons.

The Eagles have a unique offense featuring five guards, leading to plenty of mismatches and plenty of 3-point tries.

FGCU attempts an average of 30.2 3-pointers per game.

“I think they have everybody’s attention,” Baranczyk said. “I think they’re a team nobody wants to see in the tournament.”

OU likes to get up and down the floor as well, but with a very different style of play.

That matchup, Baranczyk said, should lead to a game that will be fun to watch — from the outside at least.

“From that standpoint, the pace and tempo will be great,” Baranczyk said. “For us, we have to do a great job of getting better and getting to our pace and our tempo. I think we’ve had a couple of games where we’ve really seen that but we haven’t had a year of it. That’s what I’m excited about, to be able to see us really share the basketball, to be able to get our spacing a little bit better.”

More: Oklahoma women's basketball to face FGCU to open March Madness in 2024 NCAA Tournament

Florida Gulf Coast Eagles players react to the bracket during the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Selection Show at Alico Arena on Sunday, March 17, 2024.
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles players react to the bracket during the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Selection Show at Alico Arena on Sunday, March 17, 2024.

Baranczyk happy with teams response to Big 12 Tournament loss

Baranczyk isn’t used to having this much time between the end of the conference tournament and the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

It will be nearly two weeks between the Sooners’ 85-68 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 semifinals and their tournament opener.

“We have really gotten back in the gym to work on some fundamental things that we need to get better at,” Baranczyk said. “And that game gave us a lot of humility and we had to really look in the mirror against Iowa State, and Iowa State played very well and we didn’t. So we really needed to step up and we needed to get better in the practice gym and I think our leadership came very humble and very hungry. And that’s what you want this time of year.”

The layoff gave the Sooners more time to work on themselves rather than prepare for a specific opponent.

“You can project all you want to project, but you’ve really got to work on yourself,” Baranczyk said. “And there’s no moments that you really get to do that throughout the season other than October. You go right into game prep and you try to sneak things in here and there, but that week was really fun for us.”

More: Could Oklahoma women be upset? Our 2024 March Madness predictions for NCAA Tournament

Baranczyk ‘devastated’ at OU men’s exclusion

While Baranczyk is excited for her team’s entry into the tournament, she said she was ‘devastated’ that the OU men didn’t get into the tournament.

“His daughter’s on our team, so you see it in an intimate way,” Baranczyk said. “Porter Moser is the best. I love working beside him.”

Baranczyk said one of the first messages she received after her team’s draw was shown on the selection show was from Moser, whose daughter Jordan is a walk-on for Baranczyk’s team.

“I love what he does,” Baranczyk said. “I love what he’s doing. I love who he is. I love working beside him and he’s so easy to cheer on.

“That doesn’t happen. You don’t have men’s and women’s coaches that literally pour into each other and want each other to do well. We’ve worked together so well. He’s just an incredible person. I love their team. I love their players.”

OU vs. Florida Gulf Coast

TIPOFF: 3 p.m. Saturday at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana (ESPN NEWS)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's basketball 'hungry' for March Madness vs Florida Gulf Coast