OU basketball: Skylar Vann exits with injury, sparking confrontation between Jennie Baranczyk, Baylor squad in Big 12 Tournament loss

Sophomore guard and Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year Skylar Vann left OU’s Big 12 Tournament semifinal game against Baylor on Saturday with an apparent knee injury.

The injury occurred late in the fourth quarter when Vann landed awkwardly on her leg after being fouled by Baylor’s Caitlin Bickle while driving for a layup. Vann departed afterward, needing extensive help getting off the floor.

She was seen with crutches and an icepack on her left knee as No. 5 Baylor finished its 91-76 win over No. 21 OU.

“We don't know anything yet,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said of the injury afterward. “We're hoping obviously for the best, but I don't think anything will be confirmed until we get back."

Semifinal loss for @OU_WBBall, but bigger concern now is Skylar Vann, who was injured late in the game and walked off court on crutches with an ice bag on her left knee. Hope it's not too serious; she's been very important to Sooners this season.

— Mechelle Voepel (@MechelleV) March 12, 2022

After Vann’s injury occurred, Baranczyk ran to check on her, moving several Baylor players out of the way to do so. That caused a confrontation between Baranczyk and Baylor head coach Nicki Collen, the latter taking exception to Baranczyk’s actions.

Baranczyk also exchanged words with Baylor players, later apologizing to them after the game ended. Postgame, Baranczyk said she “didn’t mean to disrespect anybody” and was just trying to get to Vann as fast as possible.

"Kid goes down, kid gets hurt, coach gets emotional and says some things maybe she regrets,” Collen said. “She was emotional and protective of her kid."

Really interesting exchange between Jennie Baranczyk and Baylor head coach Nicki Collen after Skylar Vann was left injured after a hard foulSeemed like Bears players took exception to Baranczyk bumping some Bears out of the way to get to Vann to check on her #Sooners

— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) March 12, 2022

The game was chippy throughout with a combined 33 fouls. Two Baylor players reached four fouls while Oklahoma junior forward Liz Scott fouled out with five. Postgame, Collen mentioned how her team took the game personally after being swept by OU in the regular season.

“This was a little personal for us,” Collen said. “To lose to them twice in games we had leads, there didn’t have to be a lot of rah-rah.”

Vann recorded five points and seven rebounds off the bench against the Bears. The Edmond native is averaging 12 points per game this season, third-most amongst Sooners.

OU will hope she’s able to return for its NCAA Tournament push, which will begin either March 18 or 19 following Sunday’s 8 p.m. selection announcement.