No. 1 OU (48-7, 20-4 SEC) wrapped up its 2026 campaign with a regular-season Southeastern Conference championship. The Sooners will open SEC tournament play Thursday, and head coach Patty Gasso believes her team is ready for the heightened environment.
“We're used to this,” Gasso said. “We just go out and have that championship mindset where we're just throwing it down, going after it and finding ways to win (in) different ways.”
OU heads into the SEC tournament as the top seed in the conference. After taking two of three from Texas A&M in the last series, the Sooners look to defend their SEC tournament crown, which they shared last season after weather forced OU and Texas A&M to split the championship.
Though the Sooners will battle for the tournament crown, Gasso is not taking for granted having won the SEC regular-season title.
“It's quite an honor that we did this the first year and second year in (the conference); there's some great teams out there,” Gasso said.
Gasso will look to lead the Sooners to their ninth national championship, all of which have come under her leadership since taking over the program in 1995.
To get back to the top of the mountain, the Sooners will need numerous freshmen to perform well in their first taste of postseason play.
Freshman catcher Kendall Wells, who is one home run shy of tying the NCAA single-season record set by Laura Espinoza with 37 in 1995, was praised for keeping her composure in other facets of her game as teams begin to pitch around her.
“(Frustration) doesn't bleed into her game at all,” Gasso said. “She's made some really unbelievable defensive plays, and her hustle is at another level.”
Wells, who is hitting .361, leads the country with 36 home runs and ranks fourth nationally with 79 runs batted in, will look to carry her momentum into the postseason.
Another freshman who Gasso raved about is two-way player Allyssa Parker.
“She's got a great competitiveness,” Gasso said. “We need to get her swing in the game. We got to figure out where that is. She's been working at third; she's been working at first. But she's been working mostly in the bullpen.”
Parker, who has an earned run average of 3.37 through 43.2 innings pitched, has a batting average of .339 with 11 home runs and 29 runs batted in.
With both Parker and Wells blossoming at an opportune time, OU will look to chase its fifth championship in six seasons.
The Sooners will open SEC Tournament play Thursday against the winner of LSU and Georgia in the quarterfinals.
This article was edited by Joshua McDaniel.
