Oklahoma basketball: Lady Sooners post historic comeback win over Utah
By Chip Rouse
The men’s Oklahoma basketball program isn’t the only OU squad off to a solid start this hoops season, the Lady Sooners are making a strong statement of their own.
The Sooners improved to 10-1 with an exciting 83-76 win over Utah on Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center, erasing a 19-point second-half deficit in doing so.
Utah (8-3), took a 23-22 advantage into the second quarter, but the Sooners scored just 10 points in the second stanza and trailed by 10, 42-32, at halftime. The 32 halftime points was a season low for the nation’s second-best scoring offense.
Oklahoma also struggled coming out in the second half. OU found itself down by 19 points just two minutes into the third quarter.
That’s when the Lady Sooners found their footing. Over the next 18 minutes, OU not only erased the deficit but went up by double digits, outscoring the Utes 50-26 over that span.
The comeback was Oklahoma’s largest since making up a 20-point deficit in a win against Kansas last February.
Senior Taylor Robertson led the Sooners with 19 points, including four of nine behind the three-point line. Her final made three-ball of the night gave her 377 for her career and a new school record, passing Aaryn Ellenberg.
Madi Williams added 17 points for Oklahoma and Nevaeh Tot contributed 10.
The Sooners turned 23 Utah turnovers into 27 points, which was a major factor in OU’s ability to execute the turnaround.
While Oklahoma struggled on offense in the first half, it was the Utes time in the second time, as the Sooners held them to 34 points and 76 for the game, almost 10 points below their nation’s fourth-best 85-point scoring average.
The 10-1 start for new head coach Jennie Baranczyk’s Lady Sooners is the team’s best start since the 2006-07 season, when OU went 17-1 to open the season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners have now won their last seven games.
Like their male basketball counterparts the OU women are just outside of breaking into the top 25 for the first time this season. Based on the votes received this week, the Lady Sooners would be No. 27 in the current Associated Press rankings and No. 29 in the Coaches Poll.
Oklahoma has won more nonconference game, on Dec. 29 at home against Wichita State, before opening the Big 12 season on Jan. 2 at Texas Tech.