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OU Daily women's basketball beat reporter Ben Suey gives his top three takeaways from the Sooners' victory over Kansas Saturday evening.

Check out his takeaways at length on our website: https://www.oudaily.com/sports/ou-womens-basketball-defeats-kansas-60-55-in-norman/article_7a49b460-bd83-11ee-b041-a3f773081931.html

Oklahoma (13-6, 7-1 Big 12) narrowly defeated Kansas (10-10, 3-6) 60-55 Saturday in Norman to pull off a fourth straight conference win.

Senior forward Skylar Vann scored 21 points on her 22nd birthday. OU shot 32% from the field and managed to outlast the Jayhawks thanks to second half stands from Vann and junior guard Payton Verhulst.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Sluggish start

The high-powered energy OU often brings to the start of games was absent in the first half. The Sooners appeared stable and connected, committing just one turnover and pushing in transition.

OU finished with 27 points and shot 11-of-39 before halftime. The lackadaisical offensive showing comes days after the Sooners hung 45 first half points en route to a win over No. 10 Texas. The Sooners greatest problem proved to be cutting through an unyielding inside Jayhawks’ defense. OU was only able to put up eight points in the paint.

The player responsible for most of the Sooners’ scoring was Vann, who went 5-for-9 (56%) to score 12 points in the first half. Kansas, despite only going 11-of-28 (39%), were pushed forward by the efforts of junior guard Wyvette Mayberry and Zakiyah Franklin, who scored a combined 23 points.

“You could tell we looked tighter today,” coach Jennie Baranczyk said postgame. “I also feel like Kansas did an amazing job controlling the pace and the tempo. We started at the pace that we wanted, but they controlled it the rest of the game. So that was something that was in their favor more than ours.”

Verhulst turns up the heat

OU continued to struggle putting up points in the third quarter, going 12-of-32 (38%). That would not be the Sooners’ only problem this time, as the turnovers became an increasingly dangerous issue.

Kansas managed to put up points thanks to trips to the free throw line, going 8-for-10 to keep the game close going into the final stretch. Freshman guard S’Mya Nichols drew the most fouls and went 5-for-6 from the charity strike. In comparison, OU only had three trips to the line to go 4-for-6.

Luckily for the Sooners, hope would come in the form of Verhulst. When OU needed a boost to help keep ahead of the Jayhawks, Verhulst delivered by scoring 12 points, going 2-for-5 from 3-point range, and grabbing three rebounds. Verhulst’s effort gave OU the edge and allowed it to keep the Jayhawks from getting too far ahead.

As the clock winded down in the fourth quarter, it would be Vann who would lead the charge to victory. Vann went scoreless in the third quarter but put up eight points off of five attempts in the fourth.

“In crunch time a month ago, we went the opposite direction,” Baranczyk said postgame. “Now, whether or not the ball goes in or whether or not you get the stop, we’re in position to do it. It’s about finding different ways to do it, but also I’m really proud of the growth that this team is having, and that’s what we want to continue to do; just be addicted to growing.”

Vann’s birthday bash

Vann celebrated her 22nd birthday by proving why she is still on top of the leaderboard. She grabbed six rebounds and is the only player on OU’s roster that has posted multiple games with 20+ points this season.

Behind Vann was Verhulst, who finished with 12 points after going 5-of-13. Verhulst is the only other Sooner to score in the double digits. She also recorded six rebounds, one block and one steal.

“The special thing about our team is that one person doesn’t have to take over the game,” Vann said postgame. “First half, I had really good shooting, but then in the second half (Payton Verhulst) hit two 3’s back-to-back … Some people might not be scoring right away, but if you leave them open you never know, they might get a bucket. There’s never a situation where one person feels like they need to get there to save the team.”

Next, Oklahoma will square off against No. 4 Kansas State (20-1, 9-0 Big 12) at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Norman on ESPN+.

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