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OU basketball: 5 final takeaways from No. 18 Sooners' 65-63 win over No. 9 Texas

Jennie Baranczyk

Head coach Jennie Baranczyk during the game against Baylor on Jan. 12.

 Shelby Reasor/The Daily

No. 18 Oklahoma (18-3, 7-2 Big 12) defeated rival No. 9 Texas (15-4, 5-3) 65-63 in Norman on Saturday afternoon. The win is OU’s first against a top-10 opponent since 2017.

Junior forward Liz Scott hit the game-winning shot with 3.6 second left to go. The make was her only basket of the game after missing most of the first half with a leg injury. Senior forward Madi Williams led OU with 23 points while senior guard Taylor Robertson added 17 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Here are five takeaways from the rivalry win:

Liz Scott wins it for OU

Entering Saturday, Scott was coming off a career game. She scored a career-high 22 points against Oklahoma State on Wednesday, adding six rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

The Houston native left the game in the first quarter after taking a fall, missing the remainder of the second half. Upon returning, she didn’t have a substantial impact until the very final play.

With 3.6 seconds left, Scott pump-faked before driving ahead to make the go-ahead layup. Despite not producing much in the game, she made the biggest shot of the night.

“A lot of that was about spacing,” Baranczyk said. “Our players are so interchangeable. (Madi Williams) drew a lot of attention, and it opened up Liz. She played that play and it was perfect.”

Scott made her 11th start against Texas and is averaging 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds this season.

Sooners hold strong on defense

After holding Oklahoma State to 32 percent shooting, OU held tight on defense again. The Longhorns were held to just 33 percent shooting from the field, the third-lowest OU has held an opponent to this season, and 30 percent from 3-point range. OU forced 24 turnovers, 14 being steals, its most in a game since recording 17 against Utah on Dec. 21.

Four Sooners earned multiple steals, including sophomore guard Nevaeh Tot’s six, the most from an OU player this season. The Sooners held Texas to just 12 fourth quarter points and held the Longhorns to zero made shots in the final 4:11 of play.

“I thought tonight we stayed disciplined and stayed pretty steady,” Baranczyk said. “I thought defensively we were really good. We found a different way to win tonight, and I’m really proud of that.”

Texas made 18 shots against the Sooners, the lowest OU has held an opponent to this season. UT’s 63 points are the fourth-lowest OU has allowed this season and the eighth time they’ve held an opponent to under 70 points.

Second-best offense goes cold

Oklahoma entered Saturday with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense at 87 points per game. That offense was unusually subpar against the Longhorns.

The Sooners shot just 39 percent from the field, their third-lowest percentage this season, and 26 percent from 3-point range, their second-lowest percentage this season. Three starters, Tot, Scott and junior guard Kennady Tucker were held under five points. Only two OU players, Williams and freshman guard Kelbie Washington, shot above 50 percent. 

The Sooners scored on just 37 percent of its possessions, committing a turnover on 33 percent of them. OU committed 27 turnovers, turning into 24 Longhorn points. For Baranczyk, she believes the offensive struggles were due to OU playing at UT’s methodical pace. 

“They tend to want to slow it down a little bit on the defensive end,” Baranczyk said. “It just came down to … we played at their pace. They wanted to slow the tempo down. It's just two completely contrasting styles of play (compared to OU).”

OU’s 20 made shots and five 3-pointers are both season-lows for it. Its 65 points ties a season-low.

Madi Williams comes up big

OU’s second-leading scorer put on a clinic against Texas. The senior forward led OU with a game-high 23 points, adding nine rebounds and two steals.

Williams made a vital shot to tie the game with 1:16 left to go. With 23 points, she accounted for 35 percent of OU’s scoring. It’s the seventh time this season she’s scored more than 20 points. 

After the game, Baranczyk lauded her leadership and recent play.

“She’s done an incredible job,” Baranczyk said. “With her leadership and balance, she does it in a way that’s fun. She has this incredible charisma about her, and that's been really fun to be able to watch her continue to really raise the level of the rest of our team.”

Williams is OU’s leading rebounder with 7.9 per game. She’s also averaging 18.4 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. 

Taylor Robertson records first career double-double

Robertson recorded her first career double-double against the Longhorns, scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds. The McPherson, Kansas native played all 40 minutes, draining six 3-pointers and making all six of her free-throw attempts.

Her 10 rebounds are her most since she had eight in OU’s season opener against South Dakota on Nov. 9. Her efficiency score of 24 was the highest of any OU player in the game.

“I thought Taylor … did a great job in terms of really being able to rebound the basketball,” Baranczyk said.

With the win, OU and Iowa State remain tied at first place in the Big 12 standings with a 7-2 conference record. The Sooners return to action against No. 11 Baylor at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 2 in Waco on ESPN+.

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