The Oklahoma women's basketball team held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by No. 15 Tennessee and Payton Verhulst hit two clutch free throws with under a minute remaining in the game to seal an 87-86 win and hand the Volunteers their first loss of the season.
The ninth-ranked Sooners rebounded from a home loss to No. 5 Texas on Thursday to earn their first conference win as a member of the SEC and improve their season record to 13-2.
Verhulst led Oklahoma with 16 points, but none were more critical than her two free throws in the final seconds in her only trip to the foul line the entire game. Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers was one of three other Sooners in double figures with 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
Oklahoma took its first lead of the game, 5-4, two minutes in and never looked back. The Sooners led 46-39 at the half and stretched it to a 17-point advantage late in the third quarter. Tennessee shot close to 60% in the final quarter and outscored OU 27-12.
Verhulst's two free throws with 56 seconds to go made the score 87-83.
A 3-pointer by the Vols' Jewell Spear, her sixth of the game, cut the Sooner lead to a single point. An Oklahoma turnover on the ensuing possession with 10 seconds remaining gave Tennessee an opportunity to come all the way back and win the game, but a 3-point try by Sara Puckett rattled out as time expired, preserving the Sooners' win.
Oklahoma shot 54% for the game, the Sooners' second-best shooting game of the season.
Here are three takeaways that help tell the story of the game and the season so far.
1. Turnovers continue to be big problem for Sooners
Oklahoma committed a season-high 27 turnovers in the loss to Texas earlier in the week. That season record didn't last a full week as the Sooners were even worse handling the ball at Tennessee. The Sooners committed a new season-high 31 turnovers against the Volunteers that led to 30 Tennessee points.
2. OU needed reserves to win
The Sooner bench players may have won this game. Oklahoma reserves scored 45 of the Sooners' 87 points, with Liz and Reyna Scott each contributing 11 points.
3. Difficult SEC is gauntlet for both OU teams
Both Oklahoma head coaches have readily acknowledged that games in the SEC are going to be a slugfest every night for the men and women. Jennie Baranczyk's Sooners next travel to Mississippi State. The Lady Bulldogs are not ranked but are receiving votes. They are 13-2 overall and 6-1 at home this season.