NCAA Women's Tournament: What You Need to Know About Sooners' 1st-Round Win

Two devastating losses leading into the NCAA Women’s Tournament sent Oklahoma West to Seattle, Washington to face two home-state favorites in the opening two rounds of the women’s road to the Final Four.

Mar 6, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Maddie Manning (23) shoots the ball over Baylor Bears forward Nina Davis (13) in fourth quarter during the women’s Big 12 conference tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

On Saturday, the No. 6-seeded Sooners disposed of 11-seed Gonzaga, winning 75-62, and now moves on to its toughest test of the opening weekend, having to go up against No. 3 Washington on Monday in what will be a virtual home game for the 28-3 Huskies.

But before looking ahead, let’s take another look back at how Oklahoma went about taking down one of the hottest teams in college basketball entering the NCAA Tournament.

We’ve taken a deep dive into Saturday’s uplifting Sooner victory and separated out what is important and relevant for you to know in the event that you did not see, read or hear about OU’s first round NCAA Tournament game with the West Coast Conference-champion Gonzaga women.

After averaging a little more than six three-pointers a game during the regular season, the Sooners nailed that many in the first quarter alone against Gonzaga and finished with 10 for the game.

Junior center Vionise Pierre-Louis came very close to a triple double, with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocked shots. Her nine blocked shots was a career high and set an OU NCAA record for blocks in one game.

Oklahoma is 14-5 this season when Pierre-Louis scores at least 10 points.

Junior Gabbi Ortiz recorded a double-digit scoring game (12 points) for the 14th time this season. Ortiz was four-for-four at the free-throw stripe in the game. She is currently 10th on the Sooner career list with an .841 free-throw percentage.

Senior guard and three-point marksman Peyton Little scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter as the Sooners scored a season-high 29 points in the opening period. She hit three of her four three-balls in the game in the first quarter.

The Sooners held Gonzaga’s top scorer, Jill Barta to just 13 points. Barta poured in 37 points in the Zags’ West Coast Conference championship game, but she did not score her first points until three minutes into the second quarter on Saturday.

Oklahoma jumped out in front 4-0 in the game and were never headed, leading by as many as 15 points early in the third quarter.

The Sooners are 33-19 all-time in NCAA Women’s Tournament performances. All but two of those wins have been under head coach

Sherri Coale

. OU is 16-3 in opening-round games under Coale.

“Make or miss, we had really good responses…You have to be able to do that in the NCAA Tournament. Short memories are good things.” –OU coach Sherri Coale

Sherri Coale was highly complementary about her team’s performance and energy after the first-round win over what she described as a “tough, tough 11 seed for a very talented team.”

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Coale said in her postgame interview session with the media. “After being off for two weeks and the way we started in the first quarter. We shot it about as good as we could shoot it, competed at a high level and were connected.

“I liked the way we stayed in the possession we were in,” the OU head coach said. “We didn’t get panicky about what was about to happen on the next possession (after making a mistake). We were very centered and very immersed in the possession at hand.”

Coale noted that you have to be able to overcome momentum swings, to makes and misses and turnovers and remain focused on the proverbial next play. “You have to be able to do that in the NCAA Tournament,” she said. “Short memories are good things, and I thought we had that today.”

Next up for the OU women, an even hotter, more talented Washington team, featuring the country’s leading scorer, Kelsey Plum.

NCAA Women’s Tournament: What You Need to Know About Sooners’ 1st Round Win?

By Chip Rouse | Mar 19, 2017

Two devastating losses leading into the NCAA Women’s Tournament sent Oklahoma West to Seattle, Washington to face two home-state favorites in the opening two rounds of the women’s road to the Final Four.