Oklahoma women’s basketball downs West Virginia, 88-76, improves to 16-2
The Oklahoma women’s basketball team kept rolling, rallying from a halftime deficit to top West Virginia, 88-76, to improve to 16-2 overall (5-1 Big 12).
Senior Madi Williams finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting and senior Taylor Robertson knocked down 5-of-10 from three-point distance to deliver 22 points.
Trailing 46-44 at halftime, OU outscored West Virginia 28-12 in the third quarter to take control. After WVU’s Esmery Martinez made a jumper to pull the Mountaineers within one point at 58-57, the Sooners closed the third on a 14-1 run to open the game up.
“What a tough game. I mean, I think obviously West Virginia is a very good basketball team. They’re very physical. I thought they pounded it inside on us. I thought they exposed us in a lot of areas and I’m really proud of our team. I thought our first quarter was pretty good and I thought that the way we came out of halftime. There were some great performances on both sides today which I think is a great game for women’s basketball,” Oklahoma head women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk said.
What exactly did spearhead that big third-quarter run for the Sooners?
“I think when we move and we play really good defense, we do a pretty nice job. I mean, we’re limited right now in terms of our inside play. We were down a point guard today, so I think we took care of the ball. I think sometimes it helps you on both ends. I’d have to go back and look, but I just think our overall energy and I thought the tempo of our game was a huge key in that third quarter,” Baranczyk said.
“I think we want to get up tempo. I mean, that’s a huge part of what we do period. Now, what I would’ve liked to have seen is not just fast break in the full court. I think in terms of up tempo, I love that in the full court. I also love it a little bit more in the half court. I think we got on our heels a little bit. Credit to West Virginia for that, especially in those second and third quarters, but, offensively, yeah, we want to be able to get out. It’s fun and I think we have a lot of people that can bring the ball up the floor. We have a lot of people that can do a lot of things. We want to be able to make reads and get up and down.”
It’s the best start for Oklahoma since the 2006-07 season. OU travels to Kansas State next where it will play the Wildcats at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
