Oklahoma was held well below its season scoring average but still had more than enough scoring to defeat Georgia 70-52 in the second round of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday.
Fifth-seeded OU (24-6) advanced to play 4 seed Kentucky (22-6) in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Friday, and the Sooners are probably going to need more points than they got against Georgia.
Kentucky defeated OU 95-86 in Norman on Feb. 2. The Sooners haven't lost since and are on an eight-game winning streak.
Kentucky and Oklahoma tied for fourth place in the SEC regular-season standings, but the Wildcats were awarded the higher seed because of the head-to-head win, which gave them the tiebreaker. Both teams finished with identical 11-6 league records.
Before this season, Oklahoma and Kentucky had faced each other just four times in women's basketball. The Wildcats won three of the four games and now own a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series
The Oklahoma-Kentucky game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT on Friday and will be televised on SEC Network.
What fans need to know
- Oklahoma never led in the first game with Kentucky. The Wildcats took a 30-19 advantage after one quarter and led 45-36 at the half. The Sooners cut the deficit to a single point in the third quarter before Kentucky responded with a 16-0 run to essentially put the game away.
- Kentucky shot 50% in the earlier game and converted 18 Oklahoma turnovers into 25 points. Georgia Amoore of the Wildcats scored a game-high 43 points to lead the Kentucky attack. Sahara Williams had 27 points to lead Oklahoma, and Raegan Beers added 18 and Zya Vann had 17.
- The second-round tournament win over Georgia was Oklahoma's eighth consecutive win. The Sooners have not lost since that Kentucky game in early February.
- Oklahoma is the second-best scoring offense in the SEC, averaging 86.5 points per game. Kentucky ranks fourth in the conference, allowing opponents 61.5 points a game.
- The Sooners lead the SEC in field-goal percentage, averaging 47% per game. Kentucky ranks second in conference in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 35.4% per game. The Wildcats also lead the SEC in 3-point field-goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 26% shooting behind the 3-point line.
- Oklahoma and Kentucky are third and fourth, respectively, in made 3-point field goals per game. Both teams average eight made 3-balls per contest.
- Other notable stats: OU ranks first in the league in rebounding margin (+13) and assists (22 per game. In the SEC tournament game vs. Georgia, the Sooners had 27 assists on 29 made field goals. Kentucky leads the conference in blocked shots (seven per game).
Prediction
Oklahoma is playing at a high level right now and has multiple players who can put up double-digit points. Kentucky will put up a serious challenge and actually beat OU by nine points on the road this season.
If the Sooners can limit turnovers, rebound well and excerise good ball movement like they did against Georgia, they will win this game and avenge the earlier loss to Kentucky. More important, OU will advance to the semifinals, where the likely opponent would be No. 1 South Carolina.