OU women's basketball has 'a lot of work to do' to continue momentum after Texas upset

NORMAN — A month ago, OU women’s basketball was reeling.

The Sooners were coming off a 79-70 loss to a 1-12 Southern team that figured to be no match for Jennie Baranczyk’s team.

Heading into Saturday night’s 6 p.m. matchup with Kansas at Lloyd Noble Center, the outlook around Jennie Baranczyk’s team is much different than it was after that Dec. 22 loss that finished a stretch where the Sooners went 1-5.

OU is coming off Wednesday’s 91-87 win over No. 10 Texas and are 6-1 in Big 12 play, behind only Kansas State.

“None of us wanted to go through some of that but we also know that we’re not at the pinnacle, we’re not done,” Baranczyk said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

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Baranczyk wondered how her team would respond following the loss to Southern.

Instead of pushing her team apart, it helped bring them together, both on the court and off.

“We probably wouldn’t be in this situation right now if we didn’t have that,” Sooners senior Skylar Vann told reporters after the win over the Longhorns. “I feel like we’ve really grown as a team.”

Friday, Baranczyk said Vann’s words struck home with her, but said the benefit of the stretch was hard to quantify — yet at least.

“I don’t think anybody ever panicked and nobody was like, ‘Oh, everything’s good,’” Baranczyk said. “You were just like, ‘OK, let’s keep working. Let’s really keep working.’ I think in December we were probably in March too much, where in January we’re today. It’s still January. I think that’s what I’ve seen from this team. There’s more of a focal point on, ‘What are we gonna do today’ as opposed to ‘Oh, we have this next game and that’s a big game and then we have this next thing and then that’s a big thing.’ So I think our ability to stay present has just been better.”

That narrow focus has helped the Sooners steadily climb out of the hole they dug in December.

It looked like a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance wasn’t in the cards for the Sooners, but now, OU is 12-6 overall and 6-1 in Big 12 play and as of Friday afternoon had climbed to No. 44 in the NET ranking.

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“We had to go through learning ourselves, because we’re all new, and then how we fit within a system, and now you’re supposed to play to each other’s strengths,” Baranczyk said. “I thought the last game at Texas was really a game that I felt like we did a good job of playing to each other’s strengths. We had a lot of balance and I think we just played that game.

Baranczyk often preaches to her team about being “addicted to growth.”

“You’ve got to be OK falling down, you’ve got to be OK doing something good twice, you’ve got to continue to focus on growing,” Baranczyk said. “That’s where we’re at and I think that’s why we’ve seen an elevation.”

Avoiding a letdown is important for the Sooners, especially against a Jayhawks team that, while 10-9 overall and 3-5 in Big 12 play, can be dangerous.

Kansas is coming off a home win over Iowa State and knocked off then-No. 4 Baylor on Jan. 10.

“It’s easy to fall down and get back up,” Baranczyk said. “What about when you have a really big win, can you show up again? I’m excited for this young team to be able to navigate through all of this.

“What have we learned? That’s what I’m excited about.”

OU vs. Kansas

TIPOFF: 6 p.m. Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's basketball riding wave of momentum after beating Texas