The women’s Oklahoma basketball team excelled on both ends of the floor in putting a 43-point. 88-45 beatdown on overmatched Northwestern State on Wednesday night.
Fueled by a balanced attack with three Sooners achieving double-doubles in scoring and rebounds and 11 different players in the scoring column, Oklahoma took a 23-12 advantage after one quarter and widened the margin to 47-20 by halftime. At that point, the game was effectively over.
Northwestern State, out of Natchitoches, Louisiana, led 5-4 in the opening two minutes of the game. The Sooners’ Liz Scott scored on a layup on OU’s subsequent possession to take the lead, and it was all Oklahoma after that.
Head coach Jennie Barancyzk in her second season at the OU helm, was pleased with the way her team performed. “Really proud of our balance tonight,” she said in the postgame interview session after the game.
“I thought that everyone did what they needed to do, and most importantly that we got better.”
Madi Williams led the Sooners, scoring a game-high 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Skylar Vann added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Aubrey Joens, a transfer from Iowa State contributed 11 points off the bench and 11 rebounds.
Oklahoma, ranked 23rd this week in the Coaches Poll, improved its season record to 6-1.
Three main takeways from the OU women’s third home win of the season:
- As impressive as the Oklahoma offensive performance was in the 43-point win was the lockdown execution on the defensive end. The Sooners held the Lady Demons from the Southland Conference to 25-percent shooting from the field (17 of 68).
- The Sooners outrebounded the Lady Demons by a staggering 65-19, including 18 offensive boards that led to 21 second-chance points.
- While OU had little trouble lighting up the scoreboard, the Sooners they weren’t as efficient handling the ball. Twenty-one Oklahoma turnovers were converted into 19 points by the visitors.
Next up for the OU women is 7-1 Ole Miss at Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday afternoon.