The Oklahoma women’s basketball team will be competing in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament against familiar foe No. 2 seed Connecticut on Saturday.
The Sooners have been to the regional portion of the tournament 11 times in the program’s history, and Saturday will mark Oklahoma’s 13th appearance in the Sweet 16 round. Connecticut has had 36 tournament appearances, advancing to the regionals 32 times. The Huskies hold an NCAA-record for having appeared in 21-straight Sweet 16’s.
Saturday’s matchup will not be the first time the two programs meet. Oklahoma and Connecticut have had a total of 13 matchups with the Sooners being winless against the Huskies. This streak is the longest losing streak of any program in the nation. The last time the two teams met was in 2019 in the Hall of Fame Women’s Basketball Showcase, when the Huskies defeated the Sooners 97-53.
Meeting in the tournament, specifically is not new for these programs either. In 2000, UConn defeated Oklahoma, knocking them out of the Sweet 16. Two years later, the Huskies defeated the Sooners 82-70 in the 2002 National Championship. UConn has the most championship wins with 11, the last one being in 2016 against Syracuse.
“UConn’s a great team,” said redshirt senior forward Skylar Vann. “I think our game plan is just to play defense and try to be in those gaps, help each other out, leave nobody on an island.”
Against St. Francis on March 17, 2018, UConn set six NCAA tournament records including most points in a game (140), most points in one period (55), largest winning margin (88 points) and most assists made (38). The Huskies were the previous record holder for most rebounds during a game with 69, before the Sooners surpassed them. In the first round of the 2025 tournament on March 22, Oklahoma grabbed 72 rebounds against Florida Gulf Coast, setting the new tournament record.
This season, the Sooners are one of the top offenses in the nation, leading in pace (79.3). On offense, Oklahoma ranks fifth nationally, averaging 85.4 points per game. OU is one of four teams to average 80 points per game three times since the 2021-22 season. The Sooners also led the nation in assists, averaging 21.9 assists per game.
“I think that we have learned to let our defense kind of help the flow of our offense, rather than the opposite where usually our offense is dependent on how good we play defense in that game,” said senior guard Payton Verhulst.
Connecticut redshirt senior guard Paige Bueckers has been the top player for the Huskies this season. She leads the team in points per game (19.2) and assists per game (4.8). The Big East Player of the Year averages 4.4 rebounds per game, has an overall shooting percentage of 53.6% and a three-point shooting percentage of 41.4%. Bueckers has blocked 21 of her opponents shots and stolen the ball 60 times this season. In the second round of the tournament against South Dakota State she set season-highs tallying 34 points from 14 of 21 completed field goals.
“Paige is phenomenal,” said junior center Raegan Beers. “So, it’s going to be a challenge for us tomorrow that we’re excited to go against. We have seen a lot of good guards and throughout the SEC, (there is) so much athleticism similar to what UConn brings, Paige especially. It’s going to be a fun challenge tomorrow.”
This season, the Huskies have completed 1158 of 2258 shots with a shooting percentage of 51.3%. From within the three-point range, UConn has made 312 of 811 three point attempts (38.1%). Graduate student guard Azzi Fudd leads the Huskies in three-pointers, making 72 of 159 (45.3%).
The Sooners (27-7) and the Huskies (33-3) will match up at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on ESPN.
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.
