Playing its third game in as many days, Oklahoma more than met its match against top-seeded and reigning national champion South Carolina, and fell to the Gamecocks 93-75 in the semifinals of the SEC Women's Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday.
The Sooners (25-7) had no answer for South Carolina's inside game, and the Gamecocks took full advantage of every Oklahoma mistake. Five South Carolina players scored in double figures, led by Joyce Edwards' game-high 21 points.
South Carolina took control of the game in the opening period, racing out to an 11-point advantage and leading 23-15 at the end of the first quarter. The Gamecocks stretched the advantage to 17 points, 45-28 at the half, and the Sooners never got closer than 10 points the rest of the game.
The Gamecocks pretty much had their way with Oklahoma. Every time the Sooners were able to stretch a run of points together, South Carolina responded with an offensive explosion of its own. It was fairly clear throughout the contest that these two teams were not at the same level.
The Sooners had played South Carolina on the road earlier this season and lost by 41 points, 101-60. OU was 24 points better the second time around.
Sahara Williams' 17 points led the Sooners' offensive attack, and Payton Verhulst contributed 15, including a trio of 3-pointers. OU's leading scorer on the season, Raegan Beers, got into early foul trouble and was held to just seven points. Beers scored four of the Sooners' first six points and didn't score again until the fourth quarter.
Three observations as OU awaits to hear where it will be seeded and headed in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
1. South Carolina makes OU pay dearly for all its turnovers
South Carolina forced 16 Oklahoma turnovers (the Gamecocks' forced 22 Sooner turnovers in the earlier game) and converted them into 22 points. USC had the same number of offensive rebounds as Oklahoma (13), but the Gamecocks' scored 20 second-chance points compared to 11 by the Sooners.
2. South Carolina's reserves outscore Sooners' bench by 30 points
The strength of the reigning national champions Gamecocks is the depth of the roster and the talent they are able to throw at you. That depth was well on display on Saturday with 56 of South Carolina's points coming from players off the bench. Oklahoma's reserves contributed 20 points.
3. OU, South Carolina in same league but not same level
Like it or not, South Carolina is head and shoulders above Oklahoma in talent and experience.
That was evident in the way the Gamecocks were able to dominate the Sooners in both games this season. The Sooners weren't the only SEC opponent South Carolina took to the woodshed on its way to another SEC tournament championship this weekend. The Gamecocks defeated top-ranked and 2-seeded Texas 64-45 on Sunday for its ninth tournament championship under head coach Dawn Staley in the last 10 seasons.