No. 22 Oklahoma (5-2) dropped its second consecutive game against No. 19 Tennessee (4-2) 76-73 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
Freshman forward Sahara Williams scored a team-high 16 points and collected eight rebounds.
OU shot 36% from the field and 27% from 3-point range, a slight improvement from its previous effort against Princeton, but still poor compared to its season average. OU previously averaged nearly 90 points per game with 49% accuracy from 3-point range.
The Sooners trailed early after the Volunteers opened the game on an 8-0 run. With the help of junior guard Payton Verhulst, who had nine points in the first quarter, OU finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 20-18 lead.
OU lost momentum in the second quarter with a three minute drought that allowed Tennessee to go on a 6-0 run. After the officials took a timeout to fix a play clock error, the Sooners rebounded with a 11-2 run to take a 38-32 lead into halftime.
The Vols made an explosive comeback in the second half to catch up with the Sooners. OU was in foul trouble for much of the half, which Tennessee capitalized on by converting 75% of their free throws. The Volunteers also shot 37% from the field.
“We’ve just got to figure that piece out,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said in a radio interview postgame. “We’ve just got to be a more disciplined team. I thought we had some really good moments today and that one really hurt us. Especially at the end when we have miscommunication and leave someone wide open. We’re going to figure these things out and we will get better, but this one is going to be a real tough one for us.”
Foul Trouble
One the biggest killers for the Sooners was the amount of personal fouls drawn against the Vols. OU drew 26 total personal fouls, with Verhulst fouling out.
Tennessee benefited heavily, being sent to the line 24 times and scoring off 18 of those attempts.
“We fouled in a lot of those (possessions),” Baranczyk said in a postgame press conference. “Sometimes you get upset and you don’t agree, but the ones that you can control, you have to control. Especially in a game like this.”
Inconsistency between halves
The Oklahoma that played the second half was seemingly a different team than the one that kept Tennessee on its heels in the first.
The Sooners were shooting 40% from the floor and draining 33% of their 3-point attempts. OU’s defense tripped up the Volunteers’ passing and generated 12 turnovers in the first half, while only committing six.
The second half was a different story. While Tennessee went from shooting 34% in the first half to 39% in the second, Oklahoma saw a 7% decrease in its shooting percentage, a decline that proved fatal.
The Volunteers piled on the scoring against an OU defense that lacked the same physicality and intensity as it had the first half. Tennessee also scored more on second chance efforts in the second half with 13 points, nearly doubling the seven they scored in the first half.
“We’ve got to stay more disciplined,” Williams said in a postgame radio interview. “Especially knowing that they were a second half team. We had to keep that in mind.”
On the bright side
Not every aspect of the game went poorly for OU. Three players shined through the loss.
Williams saw improvement from her last appearance against Princeton, where she scored eight points and picked up two rebounds. She doubled her scoring total while grabbing a team high four steals and tying the team lead in rebounds with eight alongside senior forward Skylar Vann.
“Having the confidence to just let it fly,” Williams said. “I think that’s something Jennie put on the board for us to focus on. They have size on us, so if you’re open just shoot it. That was my mentality today, because I think that’s something I need to do that’ll help my team get better.”
Senior guard Aubrey Joens scored 12 points, and is the only player to have double-digit scoring in every game this season. Senior guard Lexy Keys also posted 12 points with three rebounds and two steals.
Next, Oklahoma returns home to face Grambling (3-3) on Dec. 1 in Norman on ESPN+.
“We’re not experienced enough to plan ahead,” Baranczyk said postgame. “We’re still trying to figure out our individual strengths so that we can play to the strengths of the people around us, … that’s why you want to play teams that are going to test you. That’s why you want to play different types of teams. There probably aren’t two more different teams than Princeton and Tennessee. … You’re preparing for the long haul, but we’ll get there.”
