No. 9 Oklahoma (13-2) defeated No. 15 Tennessee (13-1) 87-86 on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena, handing the Volunteers their first loss.
Here are the takeaways and highlights from the win:
Top Scorers
Senior guard Payton Verhulst had 16 points and five rebounds.
Junior center Raegan Beers had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Redshirt senior center Liz Scott had 11 points and five rebounds.
Junior guard Reyna Scott had 11 points, two rebounds and five assists.
Junior center Beatrice Culliton had eight points, three rebounds and one assist.
Top Stats
On the floor Oklahoma made 34 of 63 attempts, shooting 54.0% against the Lady Volunteers.
OU had 42 rebounds, eight offensive, compared to Tennessee’s 33 rebounds. Throughout the season, the Sooners have averaged 50.5 rebounds per game.
From the free-throw line the Sooners made 11 of 16, giving the team a 68.8% free-throw shooting percentage.
Top Takeaways
Turnovers continued to be a problem for Oklahoma. In the second quarter, the Sooners gave up the ball 10 times, allowing the Lady Volunteers to gain 11 points. By the end of the matchup, the Sooners turned the ball over 31 times, a season-high, giving the Lady Volunteers 30 points.
The Sooners played aggressively on both sides of the ball. However, in the first half, Oklahoma fouled Tennessee 11 times and finished the game with 18 personal fouls. This is an improvement from its last game against No. 5 Texas, where the team had a total of 28 personal fouls. Sisters, redshirt senior forward Skylar Vann and freshman guard Zya Vann were both in danger of fouling out of the game. Skylar had four and Zya had three personal fouls.
Oklahoma also improved from the three-point range. The Sooners made eight three-pointers out of 26 attempts, with a three-point shooting percentage of 30.8%. Four Sooners were able to sink a three-pointer. Verhulst had four, redshirt senior guard Lexy Keys had two, sophomore forward Sahara Williams and Zya both had one.
The Sooners will head to Starkville, Mississippi to play Mississippi State (13-3), at Humphrey Coliseum, on Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Highlights
TUDDY IN TENNESSEE@rsc0tt2 » @LizzScott3 // 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/1tEBAKA7m4
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 5, 2025
BEERS AND-1 💪@RaeganBeers // 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/IZamVbm9cT
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 5, 2025
Your favorite hooper's favorite hooper 🗣️@rsc0tt2 // 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/FjH02JteBS
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 5, 2025
The Answer.@payton_verhulst // 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/DEPd88BjnU
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 5, 2025