Fans saw the worst of the 2025-26 Oklahoma women’s basketball team in its loss to No. 3 UCLA on Monday night in Sacramento, California. And that’s a good thing.
The 73-59 score looks worse than how the actual game went, but the No. 6 Sooners were in it until the end despite their best player underperforming and while still developing a host of young players in what could be their toughest challenge of the season in just the second game of the young campaign.
Sooners lose to UCLA in first big test
OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk played three true freshmen and two sophomores in the top-10 battle, all of which logged at least seven minutes. Sophomore guard Zya Vann and freshman point guard Aaliyah Chavez both made just their second career starts in what was also Chavez’s second career game. Vann appeared in all 35 games last year, which was tied for the fifth-most by a freshman in program history. She never cracked the starting lineup, though.
Although redshirt senior guard Payton Verhulst led the way with 16 points, Vann and Chavez were the next greatest contributors with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Chavez, while handling things at the point, also never turned the ball over and nabbed a steal.
The youngsters had to step up with star player and returning leading scorer Raegan Beers scoring only seven points, which was just the fifth time since transferring to OU last season that Beers didn’t tally double-digits in a game. However, Beers did also contribute a whopping 14 rebounds.
Beers won’t score just seven points again in a rematch or during another marquee game. Chavez, the No. 1 overall 2025 recruit, plus Vann and the rest of the Sooners’ underclassmen, will continue to take massive leaps game by game.
Against a team the Sooners could face again in March deep into the NCAA Tournament, they were at their worst, but certainly won’t be in four months. UCLA’s entire starting five was made up of seniors, and the Bruins played just one freshman for three minutes all night. OU obviously has a lot more room for improvement by March, and the Sooners are already a Sweet 16 caliber squad in November.