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'We’ve grown up': Sooners overcome adversity to upset No. 11 Iowa State 82-79 at home

Ana Llanusa

Redshirt senior guard Ana Llanusa during the game against Baylor University on Jan 3.

 Megan O'Donnell/The Daily

No. 17 Oklahoma (12-2) defeated No. 11 Iowa State (10-3) 82-79 in a nail-biter on Sunday afternoon in Norman.

The Sooners were led by senior guard Ana Llanusa, who had her third consecutive 20-point performance with 23 points. Senior forward Madi Williams led OU in rebounds with nine and also scored six points.

OU walked into its biggest game of the year on Sunday against the highest ranked team in the Big 12. The Cyclones and Sooners exchanged five lead changes in the first quarter.

Junior guard Neveah Tot drained a 3-pointer assisted by senior guard Taylor Robertson with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter to give the Sooners a 19-18 lead.

The game didn’t slow down as there were seven more lead changes in the second quarter.

Robertson was guarded well by Iowa State and only added one 3-point basket of her own. With 9:20 remaining in the second quarter, Robertson’s bucket put the Sooners up 22-20 after she escaped her defender on an inbounds play and ended up wide open.

“Taylor’s been getting face guarded since my sophomore year,” Llanusa said. “We’re aware of it and we know what to do when she’s getting face guarded.”

Junior forward Skylar Vann was aggressive on the boards. With 1:15 remaining in the first half, Vann secured an offensive rebound by ripping the ball away and immediately putting it back up. The bucket put the Sooners back within two points, trailing Iowa State 34-32. 

The Sooners credited their success to playing unselfish basketball and sharing the ball well with each other. The Sooners dished out 18 assists in the win.

“I think we moved the ball well,” Llanusa said. “I think we created shots for ourselves and people took the right shots at the right time.”

With 35 seconds remaining in the game, Tot scored on a layup to give Oklahoma a 78-77 lead. Iowa State immediately responded with a layup of its own.

“I thought Neveah was great,”  Baranczyk said. “There was no hesitation. She hit a big layup but the one before that she missed.”

Vann bullied her way into the paint to score a layup with seven seconds remaining to give Oklahoma a 80-79 lead. The bucket was the final punch for the Sooners.

“In that moment I could just feel it,” Vann said. “I was just ready for that moment.”

“I was like, I’ve got this and I’m going to finish this and I did.”

Here are two more takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Llanusa stays hot

Senior guard Ana Llanusa put together another electric performance in the win. 

Llanusa, coming off of back-to-back 20-point performances against Baylor and West Virginia, led the Sooners with 23 points. 

Llanusa swished a 3-point basket as time was expiring in the third quarter to give the Sooners a 59-48 lead over the Cyclones.

With 4:23 remaining in the game, Llanusa stole the ball and scored an easy layup on the fast break, giving the Sooners a 69-66 lead.

“I think that it’s just the comfort level of our team,”Llanusa said. “Their confidence gives me confidence. I feel like I can be steady because they’re steady.”

Llanusa scored a clutch 3-pointer assisted by Tot with 1:13 left to play to give the Sooners a 76-74 lead.

Overcoming adversity

Head coach Jennie Baranczyk emphasized the importance of how her team responds after suffering a loss to Baylor on Jan. 3. 

“We talked a lot about response,” Baranczyk said. “I thought that today we did a great job of not giving everyone else our power.”

Sunday’s win wasn’t an easy game for the Sooners and they battled until the very end. 

Oklahoma didn’t shoot its first free throws of the game until eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. Iowa State had already shot 14 free throws.

“We’re doing a phenomenal job of sending other teams to the free throw line,”  Baranczyk said. “Some of it we can’t control because we are a physical basketball team but we have to eliminate the ones we can control.”

Oklahoma ended the game shooting 12-of-15 from the line. Iowa State shot 26 free throws.

Williams blocked a shot by Iowa State guard Ashley Joens with 1.6 seconds left in the game to secure the victory for the Sooners.

“She didn’t have a choice,” Baranczyk said. “She had four fouls and they had 26 free throws. She had to play straight up.”

The Sooners turned the ball over 27 times against the Bears on Tuesday night, a stat Baranczyk was not happy with. The Sooners were able to clean that up against the Cyclones on Sunday as they turned the ball over 10 times against Iowa State and forced 13 Cyclone turnovers. 

“I think we responded,” Baranczyk said. “I think we’ve grown up a little bit today.”

The Sooners will be back in action on Jan. 11 in Lubbock looking for a win against Texas Tech.

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