A dose of revenge got the Oklahoma Sooners to the semifinals of their first-ever SEC Women's Basketball Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Sooners got past 4 seed Kentucky 69-65 in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Wildcats are the last team to beat OU 95-86 on Feb. 2 in Norman, and that was the deciding factor in Kentucky getting the 4 seed and extra bye over OU.
The Sooners (25-6) haven't lost since that defeat to Kentucky, though, and are on a nine-game winning streak two games into March Madness. OU beat 12 seed Georgia 70-52 in the second round on Thursday after a first-round bye.
The difference between OU in early February to now in March was evident against Kentucky, especially defensively. After giving up 95 points to the Wildcats the last time they faced, the Sooners held them to 30 less points this time around.
OU also picked up 19 points from the free-throw line in 20 trips, compared to Kentucky going to the stripe just eight times with seven makes.
As usual, junior center Raegan Beers led the Sooners while notching a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Guard Payton Verhulst returned back to form after scoring just two points the day before. She rebounded with 16 points and a pair of 3-pointers Friday after goining 0-for-6 from beyond the arc on Thursday.
Sahara Williams also reached double digits with 13 points. OU's bench contributed 18 points compared to Kentucky's four.
The Sooners will need revenge again to get to the finals during their first trip to the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament. If 2 seed Texas wins as expected, then half of the semifinal teams will be newcomers from the Big 12.
Top-seeded South Carolina, which won the SEC title last season, awaits OU in the semis. The Gamecocks hammered OU 101-60 on Jan. 19. Only South Carolina and LSU surpassed 100 points against the Sooners during the regular season.
The Sooners and South Carolina will tip off at 3:30 p.m. CT Saturday with a trip to the championship on the line.