No. 21 Oklahoma (24-7, 12-6 Big 12) defeated Kansas (20-9, 11-7) 80-68 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday, avenging its regular season finale loss to the Jayhawks on March 5.
The Sooners overwhelmed Kansas with their high-powered offense. OU was led by senior forward Madi Williams, who did it all Friday afternoon. She finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The victory marks Oklahoma’s first in the Big 12 Tournament since 2016. The Sooners will advance to play Big 12 regular season champion Baylor in the semifinals.
Here are five final takeaways from OU’s victory:
Strong second quarter
In the March 5 home loss to Kansas, a poor second quarter plagued the Sooners. Friday afternoon, though, Oklahoma used a strong second quarter to give it much-needed momentum and take the lead for the rest of the game.
The Sooners outscored the Jayhawks 25-11 in the second quarter. OU shot 55.6 percent in the frame compared to the Jayhawks’ 22.2 percent. The big story of the quarter were the assists, though, as the Sooners recorded nine in the quarter, with six from Williams.
“I think we just kept focusing on it's tournament time, it's March,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “Let's have fun and do this together.”
Sharing the wealth
Oklahoma played unselfish basketball Friday and it paid off. The Sooners notched 25 assists for only the second time in the last 14 games. The other game in that 13-game stretch was a 25-assist showing in a win over TCU on Feb. 23.
OU knocked down 10 3-pointers on Friday, taking advantage of many wide-open looks. Those shots were created by great passes from the Sooners, who consistently made the extra pass against Kansas.
Williams led the way with seven assists while freshman guard Kelbie Washington and sophomore guard Nevaeh Tot ran the point guard combo to perfection, combining for 10 assists.
“I think we have some really good point guard play,” Williams said. “Their play allowed us to be steady. And then along with me and (senior guard Taylor Robertson) being leaders on the floor, just talking to each other allows us to be steady and be able to run our offense.”
Dominating the glass
The Sooners have struggled with size all season, as junior starting forward Liz Scott is one of their tallest contributors at just 6-foot-2. Williams, who slots in at Oklahoma’s other starting forward spot and is the team’s leading rebounder, stands 5-foot-11.
On Friday, however, the Sooners dominated Kansas on the glass, despite the Jayhawks having four players averaging more than four rebounds per game, including Taiyanna Jackson’s eight boards a game.
Oklahoma outrebounded Kansas 53-41 in the game. Five Sooners recorded five or more rebounds, while also outscoring the Jayhawks 36-24 in the paint. Williams led the way with her 11 rebounds, while Scott brought down eight of her own.
“I thought Madi did a great job of being able to set that tone in terms of rebounding for us,” Baranczyk said. “And I thought offensively I thought we did a much better job — and here I went and said I didn't compare from one game to the next, but I thought we did a much better job this time of being able to crash and get back in terms of transition.”
Finally finding tournament success
The Big 12 Tournament has not been kind to the Sooners in recent seasons.
Oklahoma’s last conference tournament win prior to Friday came in the 2015-16 season when the Sooners knocked off Oklahoma State in the first round. That OU squad went on to lose 84-57 to Baylor in the second round.
Since then, it had been four consecutive losses for OU, not including the 2019-20 Big 12 Tournament, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
Under former coach Sherri Coale, the Sooners won four conference tournament championships, the last coming in 2007. Toward the end of her career, though, the luck was running dry in Kansas City.
“Yeah, it’s our first Big 12 Tournament win, it's obviously really cool,” said senior guard Taylor Robertson said of finally accomplishing the feat in her fourth season in Norman. “We get to stay one more night. It's just really fun because the way we play, obviously winning is fun, but the way we play is just so much fun. I'm really glad we get to play another game tomorrow.”
Baranczyk searching for third tournament title
Baranczyk has a chance to win her third conference tournament championship in her career, and her first with the Sooners.
At Drake, Baranczyk won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, Drake knocked off Northern Iowa 74-69 to win it, and in 2018 the Bulldogs once again beat Northern Iowa 75-63 for the conference crown.
Baranczyk has produced a wildly successful first season in Norman after replacing the retired Coale, leading Oklahoma to its most wins in five years and being named a semifinalist for National Coach of the Year.
With the win, the Sooners advance to face Baylor in the semifinals of the tournament at 12 p.m. on Saturday. OU swept its regular season matchups with the Bears.
“Twenty-five assists, how is that not fun?” Baranczyk asked. “I know you have to make the basket, and I understand that, but I thought we did an incredible job of playing together today. We just were really, really good together.”
