OU women's basketball: 6 available Sooners continue growth against Texas State in season's first victory

With only the group quickly becoming known as “The Super Six,” available once again due to COVID-19 contact tracing, the Sooners grabbed their first victory of the season against the Texas State Bobcats Sunday afternoon.

The Super Six ⭕️🙌‼️ pic.twitter.com/fhRqcS5TUS

— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) December 13, 2020

All of Oklahoma’s nine points in the first quarter of its 52-40 win came on 3-pointers — two from junior guard Taylor Robertson and one from freshman guard Skylar Vann. The score after the first quarter was 11-9 in favor of the Bobcats as both teams struggled through the opening period.

But the Sooners did not trail for long, as freshman guard Navaeh Tot stole the ball from the Bobcats and hit a lay-up to tie the game early in the second quarter. OU held a three-point advantage going into the locker room, but its lead grew even more after the second half tip-off.

In the third quarter, the Sooners blasted away with a 10-0 run and stayed in the driver’s seat with a 40-28 advantage going into the final 10 minutes of the matchup.

Oklahoma kept the double-digit edge over the Bobcats from then on, with the freshmen duo of Tot and Vann scoring 10 of OU’s 12 points in the final quarter. Overall, Tot unveiled her offensive skill with 12 points, and Vann went 3-for-4 from the three-point line and scored 11 of the Sooners’ 52 total points.

The win, along with the improvements made and the team chemistry being fostered, will be vital to the squad for the rest of the year. Head coach Sherri Coale believes Sunday could be the turning point for the Sooners’ season.

“I’m proud of their approach,” Coale said. “The best part of all of this is they are just learning. They are getting information, processing information and growing, so fast. (It's) going to be so helpful down the road.”

One of Coale’s players who, once again, exhibited tremendous growth Sunday was sophomore guard Gabby Gregory. For the second straight game, Gregory was the team’s leading scorer and she walked off the court with 16 points and a solid 8-for-8 free-throw percentage.

Afterward, Gregory expressed confidence that the amount of improvements she and her five available teammates made Sunday will be helpful when the Sooners clash against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in their next game.

“It’s going to be a battle,” Gregory said. “Bedlam is always a battle. “We are just going to have to go in there and play our tails off. If we just play the way that we did today, we’ll be fine.”

The Sooners will be back on the court at the Lloyd Noble Center this Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. CT to face off against Oklahoma State on FOX Sports Oklahoma.