South Carolina scored 28 points before the Oklahoma women had reached double digits, and it only got worse from there as the No. 2 Gamecocks buried the Sooners in a 101-60 avalanche on Sunday in a top-15 matchup at South Carolina.
The reigning national champions built a 19-point first quarter advantage and continued to pour it on for four quarters in easily handing Oklahoma (15-4, 3-3) its largest margin of defeat of the season. The Sooners' previous three losses this season all were by 10 or fewer points.
OU's Raegan Beers, who was questionable on whether she would play in the game because of a shoulder injury sustained last week, led all scorers with 23 points and eight rebounds. Skylar Vann contributed 13 for the Sooners, her first double-digit game of the season.
Three Oklahoma starters (Sahara Williams, Nevaeh Tot and Payton Verhulst) combined for just three points on 1 of 18 shooting (1 of 10 from behind the 3-point line). Verhulst had a career-best 38 points in her previous outing against Texas A&M.
The Sooners will not play again until Saturday, when they host Georgia at Lloyd Noble Center.
1. USC's defensive pressure shuts down OU's offense
The Sooners shot just 20% (4 of 20) in the first quarter, falling behind 28-9 at the end of the quarter. OU was never able to overcome this deficit, although the shooting percentage improved appreciably over the final three quarters.
Oklahoma's 60 total points against South Carolina were the fewest by the OU women in over a year. Conversely, the 101 points allowed were the most since a 124-78 loss to Utah in Nov. 2022.
2. OU turnovers lead to one-third of Gamecocks' points
Oklahoma has had trouble with turnovers all season. The Sooners have averaged 22 per game over their las six games and committed 22 against South Carolina, 11 in each half. Those 22 turnovers resulted in 32 South Carolina points.
3. South Carolina's depth too much for Sooners to handle
South Carolina's depth and scoring balance was too much for Oklahoma. Ten different USC players scored in the game, and the Gamecocks off the bench contributed half of the points (53).