Oklahoma Sooners-Alabama State Hornets women's basketball

Redshirt senior guard Lexy Keys during the game against Alabama State on Dec. 8.

 Jenna Burress/OU Daily

No. 11 Oklahoma (8-1) beat Alabama State (2-7) 110-46 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Sunday.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Three-point shooting improvement

In its last game against Louisville, Oklahoma struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 37.5%.

However, OU turned it around against Alabama State.

In the first five minutes of the game, the Sooners shot 50% from the 3-point range, making 4 of 8 attempts.

Through two quarters, OU made 11 3-pointers, setting a program record for the most in a half. Against Alabama State, Oklahoma made 16 of 37 attempts shooting 43%.

The 16 made attempts are a team-high under OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk.

“I thought our shot selection was pretty good today in terms of when we shot those,” Baranczyk said. “There’s sometimes where we settle a bit too much from the outside standpoint.”

Redshirt senior guard Lexy Keys helped the effort, making three 3-pointers in the game and earning her 200th career made attempt in the first half. Keys finished with 11 points and one assist.

Vann and Beers lead the way

Redshirt senior forward Skylar Vann and junior center Raegan Beers racked in the points for the Sooners on Sunday.

In the first half, the pair combined for a total of 32 points.

Beers, who OU picked up in the portal in the offseason, has been a solid addition to the team, by adding size and power in the paint. From the field, the center made 6 of 7 attempts against Alabama State.

Vann also showed prowess. The redshirt senior forward made 9 of 13 attempts, including two of the Sooners' 16 3-pointers, and for the first time this season, Vann scored 20 points and had two rebounds and three assists.

Beers finished the game with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists.

All-around improvement

After struggling on the road, and suffering their first loss of the season against No. 8 Duke, the Sooners showed improvement against the Lady Hornets.

OU communicated well, getting under the ball more and grabbing necessary rebounds.

In their games against Duke and Louisville, Oklahoma turned over the ball a cumulative 45 times. The Sooners were able to keep their hands on the ball and only turned the ball over 12 times on Sunday, but forced Alabama State to turnover the ball 27 times, earning 40 points as a result.

“I think it’ll be interesting as the season goes on to see what it is that we can and cannot do,” Baranczyk said postgame. “So we have to judge that better and be able to read the game a little bit better. I thought we did a nice job of that tonight.”

The Sooners also read the floor, finding open-shot opportunities. Oklahoma had a 59% shooting percentage against the Lady Hornets, making 43 of 73 attempts.

The Sooners will take a week-long break and play Oral Roberts (6-2) at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on SEC Network+.

This story was edited by Gracie Rawlings. 

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