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Oklahoma basketball: Takeaways from Lady Sooners’ win over No. 11 Iowa State

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma guard Ana Llanusa (22) drives past Baylor guard Catarina Ferreira (30) in the second quarter during a women’s college basketball game between the Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Baylor Lady Bears at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.Ou Vs Baylor
Oklahoma guard Ana Llanusa (22) drives past Baylor guard Catarina Ferreira (30) in the second quarter during a women’s college basketball game between the Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Baylor Lady Bears at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.Ou Vs Baylor /
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If you enjoy athletic contests that are nip and tuck right down to the very end, you couldn’t have scripted a better game than the one between the Oklahoma basketball women and Iowa State on Sunday.

In a contest at OU’s Lloyd Noble Center Sunday afternoon in which there were 10 lead changes in the final three and a half minutes, the 17th-ranked Sooners outlasted No. 11 Iowa State 82-79 to record their 12th win of the season and second in three Big 12 games.

Down by one, 79-78 with 14 seconds to go, Skylar Vann’s turnaround shot over Iowa State’s top scorer Ashley Joens erased the deficit and gave Oklahoma the lead. Taylor Robertson then added a pair of free throws to finish out the scoring and secure the three-point victory for the Sooners.

For the third straight game, senior Ana Llanusa led Oklahoma with 23 points. She had 24 points in OU’s loss to Baylor earlier in the week. Nevaeh Tot (13), Vann (13) and Taylor Robertson (11) also scored in double figures for the Sooners.

For Iowa State, Joens had a game-high 27 points, including 12 of 13 free throws, and Lexi Donarski contributed 20.

The Sooners appeared to have control of the game, completing a 14-3 run at the end of the third quarter to open up a 59-48 advantage entering the final quarter.

With the aid of five three-pointers, half of Iowa State’s 10 made three balls for the game, the Cyclones erased the entire 11-point deficit and actually took the lead with 1:19 remaining in the game. From there it was a dogfight to the end. Emily Ryan’s desperate three-point attempt for Iowa State fell short as time expired, securing Oklahoma’s first win this season over a top-25 team.

Next outing for the Oklahoma women is Wednesday night at Texas Tech (13-3, 1-2).

Three telling takeaways from Oklahoma’s win:

  • Oklahoma outrebounded Iowa State 47 to 40 and collected 14 offensive rebounds to just five by the Lady Cyclones.
  • The Sooner defense held Iowa State to its third lowest shooting percentage (38.3) of the season.
  • Madi Williams, the Sooners’ scoring leader on the season (16.2 per game) had her lowest output of the season (6 points) but contributed nine rebounds and four offensive boards and three blocks, helping out in other ways toward the Oklahoma win.
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