Tramel's ScissorTales: Will OU-Texas draw the large crowd Jennie Baranczyk is asking for?

Sherri Coale's Sooners of a generation ago made Lloyd Noble Center a happening place for women's basketball. Roaring crowds, occasional sellouts. From Stacey Dales to Courtney Paris, those Sooners were folk heroes.

In 2008, the OSU Cowgirls got in on the action. In January of that year, a full house of 13,611 — maybe more, State didn't cap ticket sales — flooded Gallagher-Iba Arena for Bedlam. Andrea Riley scored 45 points, and the Cowgirls whacked OU 82-63.

But times change. The programs in both Norman and Stillwater declined. Society became withdrawn, preferring a digital existence be it sporting or shopping or worshipping.

The Friday ScissorTales looks at the Thunder's loss to the Jazz, salutes Langston hosting the NAIA playoffs and has fun with college nicknames. But we start with women's basketball attendance.

These days, the women's hoops crowds are in the 2,000-3,000 range at OU and OSU. The Sooners hosted an NCAA sub-regional last March and drew 3,268 for a rousing matchup against Notre Dame.

OU coach Jennie Baranczyk wants the fire back.

The Sooners host Texas at 1 p.m. Saturday in a game that likely will determine the Big 12 championship, and Baranczyk says the game is a call to arms for women's basketball in Oklahoma.

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"You're gonna get me on my soapbox," Baranczyk said the other day. "OK, so the thing is that we as a state, we as a community, have to decide what we want for women's basketball here.

"I mean, you're talking about a matchup, you're talking about a rivalry, you're talking about the senior class, you're talking about what they've been able to do."

The showdown indeed is rich. OU-Texas. Big 12 title on the line. One of the last chances to see senior stars Madi Williams, Taylor Robertson and Ana Llanusa. Saturday afternoon. Hard to concoct a better setup for a big crowd.

"I know there's high school playoffs, I understand that," Baranczyk said. "And trust me, we're following all those. But if you look at the top teams in the country, and you look at the attendance for women's basketball, we should have no less than 8(,000) to 10,000 people here.

"Do we have that many tickets out? No. Should we, you tell me, and that's going to tell us. So we're going to do whatever we can to be able to pack this place."

Speaking of packing the place, the same gameplan is set for next Saturday, when OSU hosts Bedlam. First-year Cowgirl coach Jacie Hoyt is having the same kind of breakout year Baranczyk had a season ago, her first with the Sooners.

OSU has won six straight games and sits alone in third place in the Big 12, at 10-5. The Cowgirls host Bedlam at 2 p.m. March 4.

More:How did Oklahoma Sooners' athletic department fare financially for 2022 fiscal year?

The 20-7 Cowgirls remain outside The Associated Press top 25, and Hoyt has talked about OSU getting some respect.

But she says, "It's not about proving people wrong, it's about proving ourselves right. We're seeing our team play with a great sense of freedom and motivation ... we're having the time of our life."

Beating Texas might serve as the time of the Sooners' lives. Not since 2009 has OU won the Big 12 title. Baranczyk says it's a big deal. She calls her players "incredible people" who work hard and enjoy each other and embrace the fans.

"We want to be the best for this community that we possibly can," Baranczyk said. "But we need everybody. And we need a lot of people wearing crimson this weekend. You can wear white, I don't care. You just can't wear orange. Wear whatever color you want."

It's been a long time since Lloyd Noble Center rumbled with excitement over women's basketball, despite some good teams. Baranczyk called OU-Texas a barometer. A big crowd matters.

"That's really the expectation, and I feel like we're really going to know what people think of women's basketball in this state on Saturday afternoon at 1."

More:How Oklahoma State athletics is financially self-sustaining with $100M budget

Kessler, Markkanen take down Thunder

The Thunder's first possession was ragged, but no matter. The ball found its way to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who stabilizes everything. Gilgeous-Alexander drove the lane, because he always drives the lane, and got to the basket, because he always gets to the basket. Then SGA launched a little 3-foot floater, one of the collections of shots that made him an NBA all-star.

Walker Kessler swatted it away. Uh-oh.

The Utah Jazz eventually beat the Thunder 120-119 in overtime Thursday, the ninth time this season OKC lost when victory would have meant a .500 record. The Thunder lost for many reasons; horrendous shooting, late rebounding deficiencies, Lauri Markkanen making like Dirk Nowitzki.

But the Thunder also lost because it failed to properly respect Kessler, the shot-blocking rookie from Auburn (and North Carolina) who is the new Rudy Gobert.

Kessler blocked seven Thunder shots Thursday night. He's fourth in the NBA blocks and blocks per game; second in block percentage.

Kessler is 7-foot-1. He seems taller. Maybe because the 7-foot-3 Gobert taught us to expect a skyscraper manning the Salt Lake City paint. But Gobert now is a Minnesota Timberwolf, traded in the off-season for a deal that landed the Jazz Kessler, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro, Patrick Beverley and five first-round draft picks.

The Jazz now wouldn't trade Kessler for Gobert straight up. Kessler is nine years younger and better offensively -- Utah ran a play for Kessler to open the game; he nailed a corner 3-pointer, his first deep ball of the season. Kessler isn't yet Gobert on defense, but Kessler is a definite find.

Kessler's final block was the most important. At the end of regulation, with the game tied, Kessler got matched on OKC's Isaiah Joe, who quickly drove past the Jazz's Big Bass and reached the basket for a reverse layup that would have won the game.

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Kessler, trailing Joe, swatted the shot and saved the day. A cool camera angle showed Kessler leaping as Joe leaped, with Kessler's left arm making the block and Kessler's right arm extended on the other side of the basket. Kessler had that rim locked down no matter which side Joe chose.

By game's end, Kessler's seven blocks included three on SGA floaters, one on a Santa Clara Williams layup, one on a Josh Giddey floater and one on a Giddey drive. Plus the Joe game-saver.

The Thunder has many flaws. Scoring at the basket isn't one of them. SGA is world-class in the lane. Santa Clara is a dunking phenom. And Giddey is a 6-foot-8 point guard who routinely scores around the rim with a variety of moves.

Yet they were consistently turned away by Kessler.

The Thunder launched 37 3-point shots, making just eight in an abysmal shooting game. Kessler's presence allowed the Jazz to cover the perimeter (though Utah was content to let Giddey fire freely).

The game was a testament to two things:

• Big lineups aren't dead. Utah started Kessler with fellow center Kelly Olynyk and the 7-foot Markkanen. That should have been a difficult assignment for Utah's defense, chasing around a Thunder lineup with two point guards, plus Santa Clara Williams playing power forward. But no.

• Chet Holmgren can't get here fast enough. The 7-foot-1 Gonzaga phenom, drafted No. 2 overall in June, has missed the entire season with a foot injury. Holmgren was billed as an elite rim protector, at least the caliber of Kessler and maybe better, only with high-level offensive skills.

• The Thunder's interior defense has been solid — OKC ranks 13th in the 30-team NBA in 2-point percentage defense, .544. And the Thunder is 14th in blocked shots per game, 4.8. But most of that is not rim protection; SGA leads the Thunder in blocks per game, 1.1, and most of his blocks are away from the basket.

The Thunder traded its best rim protector, Darius Bazley, two weeks ago. Its other shot blocker, Aleksej Pokusevski, hasn't played in two months, with a leg injury.

What we saw out of Kessler on Thursday night is what makes the Thunder so excited about Holmgren. Basket protection fortifies a defense in a variety of ways. And when that basket protection comes in a package that could be elite offensively, look out.

Sudden thought. What are the differences between Markkanen and what Holmgren is billed to be? Great outside shooters, decent ballhandlers for 7-footers. Markkanen looks much thicker and stronger. He weighed 225 when drafted seventh overall in 2017. Holmgren weighed 195 when drafted last summer. Hopefully, Holmgren has used his downtime to bulk up.

Still, if Holmgren can combine the best parts of Markkanen and Kessler, the Thunder has a ballplayer on its hands.

We saw the best parts of Markkanen and Kessler on Thursday night, and it cost the Thunder a game.

More:How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's journey to NBA All-Star Game took off before 2020 bubble

Langston will host NAIA playoffs

Langston's historic men's baskeball season continues. The Lions have been selected as one of the 16 sites to host first- and second-round games of the NAIA Championships.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Langston's remarkable turnaround. After going a combined 1-37 the previous two seasons, the Lions are 26-2, champions of the Sooner Athletic Conference, and ranked fifth nationally.

The teams for the March 7-8 four-team regional at Langston will be announced next Thursday.

“It is an incredible honor for Langston University to be picked out of all the NAIA schools that play intercollegiate basketball,” Lions coach Chris Wright said. “For us to be one of 16 sites picked to host is a tremendous honor for our university and our program. Our student athletes deserve a lot of credit for what they have done on the court to put us in this position.”

Until 2021, the NAIA national tournament was a 32-team affair based entirely in Kansas City. Now KC hosts just 16 teams, determined by regional play.

"It is so exciting to be a part of this historic basketball journey,” Langston athletic director Donnita Rogers said in a press release. “I need Lion Nation to show up to these opening-round games in large numbers to ensure that we are the first stop for the national tournament for years to come."

Langston is undefeated at home this season.

"Someone is going to have to play really well to beat us in C.F. Gayles Field House," Wright said. "To have that type of advantage in March is big.”

Oklahoma has a rich history of NAIA basketball national champions: Oklahoma Baptist 1966 and 2010; Cameron 1980; Bethany Nazarene (now Southern Nazarene) 1981; Oklahoma City University 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007, 2008; Sciences & Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) 2002; and Mid-America Christian 2016.

That's 12 of the 56 titles since 1965. Can Langston join the club? The Lions have a chance.

More:Why do Oklahoma HS basketball coaches keep advocating for a shot clock? 'Change is good.'

Mailbag: Length of college football games

My Thursday ScissorTales item on the length of college football games drew some thoughtful responses.

David: "I agree college football needs to do something about the length of games. I am glad TV is driving the process, but games are often unbearably long for fans that attend games as well. One major difference between NFL and college football game lengths is halftime. NFL games are 13 minutes and pretty strictly enforced (not counting the Super Bowl).  College football is 20 minutes and often stretch longer. That would be an easy way to cut five-plus minutes off of every game. It would require some adjustments. The home team band would have less time to play and visiting bands would likely not be able to take the field at all. But those tradeoffs would be worth the gain of speeding up the game."

Tramel: You're right, halftimes are a notable difference. But college football is different from the NFL. The NFL exists to serve the NFL. College football serves a different master.

The university as a whole uses college football as a platform to deliver its message. That's not just the band -- which represents tradition and the fine arts and a variety of other campus strongholds -- but the various presentations and acclamations for students, alumni, donors, dignitaries, etc. Some of those are even other sports.

Going to an NFL-style halftime would further expand the gulf between football and the university that is, in theory, in charge of the sport.

I'll take the marching band and give up 15 plays per game. Gladly.

More:Meet The Oklahoman’s initial 2024 Super 30 rankings of the state's top college football prospects

The List: Conference nickname confusion

Brigham Young and Houston join the Big 12 this summer, which means we're headed for some confusion. Both are the Cougars.

But the Big 12 won't be alone in duplication of member nicknames. Here are nine conferences with schools that share a nickname, ranked by confusion:

1. Southeastern Conference: Some leagues have multiple dual-nickname combinations. Some leagues have three schools sharing a nickname. The SEC has both. Missouri, Auburn and Louisiana State all are the Tigers. And Mississippi State and Georgia are the Bulldogs. Good thing OU and Texas have quite unique nicknames.

2. Atlantic-10: The A-10 suffers from an identity crisis -- even hard-core basketball fans are hard-pressed to name all 15 schools in the league. You know a conference is too big when it has two Georges (Mason and Washington) and three Saints (Louis, Joseph's and Bonaventure). Even worse, three schools are the Rams -- Virginia Commonwealth, Rhode Island and Fordham.

3. Southwestern Athletic:  The tradition-rich SWAC has three bedrock schools who claim Tigers -- Jackson State, Grambling State and Texas Southern.

4. Southland: The Southland is one of those double dual leagues. Southeastern Louisiana and Texas A&M-Commerce are the Lions; Lamar and Incarnate Word are the Cardinals.

5. Ohio Valley: The OVC has solved the problem. Adjectives. Morehead State is the Eagles, Tennessee Tech is the Golden Eagles and Southern Indiana is the Screaming Eagles.

6. Conference USA: Florida Atlantic and Rice both are the Owls. But Conference USA has solved the problem. Both are leaving the league. Alas, both are headed to the American Conference, to become somebody else's headache.

7. Mid-Eastern Athletic: The MEAC sports the North Carolina Central Eagles and the Coppin State Eagles.

8. Big South: North Carolina-Asheville is the Bulldogs. Gardner-Webb is the Runnin' Bulldogs. Do bulldogs run? They seem a little stationary to me.

9. Sun Belt: Georgia Southern is the Eagles. Southern Mississippi is the Golden Eagles.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU, OSU women's basketball seek big crowds in breakout season