'We were rocked': OU's season comes to crashing end vs. Notre Dame in second round of NCAA Tournament

NORMAN — Dara Mabrey held her arms high in the air in celebration, extending three fingers on each hand toward the roof of the Lloyd Noble Center.

As she looked at her Notre Dame teammates on the bench doing the same, the Fighting Irish senior guard gave an exaggerated shrug.

Mabrey didn’t have an explanation. OU didn’t have an answer.

Mabrey caught fire early and then the Fighting Irish took control in virtually every other way, handing the Sooners a 108-64 defeat in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“We were rocked a little bit honestly,” Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “A lot bit, actually.”

Yes, they were.

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Notre Dame tied for the most points ever scored by an opponent at home against the Sooners, missing the overall record by just three points.

It was also the Sooners’ largest margin of defeat in the NCAA Tournament by a wide margin. The previous largest margin of defeat was 26 points in OU’s first appearance in 1986.

OU’s season ends 25-9 while the Fighting Irish advance to next weekend’s Sweet 16 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The outcome was decided before plenty of fans settled into their seats after the 5 p.m. tipoff led to a late-arriving crowd.

The game figured to have plenty of offense, with the fast-paced tempo and stars Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson on the Sooners’ side and freshman phenom Olivia Miles and plenty of other offensive talent to go with Notre Dame’s tradition of sustained excellence.

And that’s what it looked like early, as Robertson and Williams answered the Fighting Irish’s offensive firepower in the game’s first two minutes.

But then, Notre Dame accelerated like a Formula One car while the Sooners sputtered and smoked and stalled.

Over the span of four minutes, the Fighting Irish ripped off 20 consecutive points — the last 12 on four Mabrey 3-pointers over a span of five possessions.

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“It kind of snowballed for us a little bit,” Robertson said. “In the first half, it felt like we had a lot of easy opportunities that we just missed.”

Mabrey scored 17 of Notre Dame’s 35 first-quarter points.

“When you shoot like that, I felt like I was unconscious,” Mabrey said. “That type of confidence spreads real easily, like wildfire.

“I hit those shots but then everybody started scoring.”

The Sooners didn’t reach the 35-point mark until early in the second half. By that time, the Fighting Irish led by 34.

If it was just Mabrey’s hot stretch that propelled Notre Dame ahead, it could be written off as a fluke perhaps, the product of one player hitting shots at an unbelievable rate.

But this was no fluke.

The Fighting Irish dismantled the Sooners in virtually every conceivable way.

In grabbing a 60-25 lead at halftime, Notre Dame outscored OU 18-4 off turnovers, 20-3 on the fast break, and 24-6 in the paint.

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The Sooners were shooting just 24% from the floor and they were playing better on offense than they were on defense.

Williams wasn’t on the floor for much of it, after picking up her second foul in the opening two minutes of the second quarter and staying on the bench for the rest of the half.

Mabrey ultimately finished with a season-high 29 points, hitting seven 3-pointers.

Sonia Citron added 25 and Maya Dodson 20.

Miles added nine points, seven rebounds and 12 assists for the Fighting Irish (24-8).

Robertson finished with 19 points to lead the Sooners, while Skylar Vann and Liz Scott added 11 each.

“You don’t want it to end,” Baranczyk said. “You want to keep coaching this team forever.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: March Madness 2022: Notre Dame routs OU in NCAA Tournament Round 2