All Sooners

OU Basketball: Takeaways from No. 10 Oklahoma's Dominant Win Over Southern

Jennie Baranczyk's Sooners blasted Southern in the season opener on Monday night.

Ryan Chapman

Oklahoma Sooners guard Payton Verhulst
Oklahoma Sooners guard Payton Verhulst / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

NORMAN — Jennie Baranczyk’s Sooners are off and rolling. 

No. 10 Oklahoma didn’t toy around in its season opener, as OU exacted revenge on Southern University and dominated the Jaguars 76-44 at the Lloyd Noble Center on Monday night. 

Poor fourth quarter shooting doomed the Sooners in last year’s shock defeat to Southern, and OU left nothing to chance on Monday. 

Oklahoma carried a 62-29 lead into the fourth quarter, ensuring the  final 10 minutes would be purely academic. 

Baranczyk was able to work deep into her bench, getting virtually everyone action to open the season. 

Sahara Shines

There was plenty of hype around Raegan Beers’ addition to this team, and deservedly so, but sophomore Sahara Williams stole the show on opening night. 

Last week at Media Day, Baranczyk heaped praise on the work Williams did to take a step forward this offseason. 

As a freshman, she averaged 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. 

Williams was more active and looked comfortable in the offense in the opener.

She led all scorers with 12 points at halftime and ended the contest with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. 

Williams also appeared to work on her 3-point shooting this offseason as well. 

She shot 20 percent from deep a year ago on 2.1 attempts per game, but Williams had the green light on Monday night. The sophomore ended 1-for-6 from deep, but she was confident every time she let the ball fly from beyond the arc. 

“I think Jennie and I have put a lot of time into just getting confident and getting comfortable around the arc and just letting it fly,” Williams said after the game, “because it’ll expand the game. It plays into our system. … It’s really just about getting confident with it and just repping it out and getting comfortable.”

Beers as Advertised 

Oklahoma fans had to wait a few minutes for the ball to find Baranczyk’s impact transfer.

Beers had one bucket in her first seven minutes, though she was doing plenty on the defensive end of the floor, but as the first quarter was winding down she showed off everything she can be in a Sooner uniform. 

First, Beers sealed off her defender, allowing Lexy Keys to throw a smooth entry pass. Working on the left block, Beers dropped her shoulder, spun into the lane and kissed a layup off the glass for an easy two points — the kind of post offense that hasn’t been prevalent throughout Baranczyk’s first three years in Norman. 

Then after pulling down a board on the other end, Beers got the ball at the 3-point line, dribbled twice and pulled up from the base of the SEC logo in the paint, sinking another bucket. 

“Obviously I had a really rough start. Missed layup, a turnover,” Beers said. “… But the minute — every single time that happened there was someone next to me saying, ‘Hey, you’re good.’ … And that’s what helps get those jitters out and that’s what helped today.”

Even though it took Beers and the entire team a little bit to get going offensively, Baranczyk was pleased with the energy OU brought on the other end of the floor, and a lot of that started with Beers anchoring the defense. 

“Raegan does a phenomenal job of understanding angles and paint protection and helping us and we’ve needed that,” Baranczyk said.

“(She’s) definitely an interior presence offensively and defensively,” Williams said. “Having to adjust with her has been great… Having her presence defensively has been incredible.”

Beers finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting while also adding 14 rebounds and an assist. Her 11 shot attempts bettered her average of 10.7 field goal attempts per game from a year ago despite not playing for a majority of the fourth quarter, which was just confirmation that she’ll get plenty more chances in OU’s fast-paced offense. 

She really excelled in the second half, adding nine of her points in the third quarter of the win. 

Another Vann to Watch

Skylar Vann didn’t disappoint in her season debut, as last year’s Big 12 Co-Player of the Year chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds against Southern. 

But it was Vann’s younger sister, Zya Vann, who turned heads. 

Zya Vann was one of Baranczyk’s first options off the bench and the 5-foot-9 guard was a pest defensively. 

She paired steady on-ball defense with comfort on the other end of the floor as she dished out two assists in her first official action as a Sooner while ending with four points. 

“Zya can play,” Baranczyk said. “I mean, she can play and she has show it in practice. She’s got a great feel for the game and she doesn’t have to overthink the game because she’s playing with so much experience.”

Guard Payton Verhulst added four points, nine rebounds and four assists and Liz Scott closed out the night with six points, three rebounds and an assist in her return to action after spending last year on the sidelines with an injury. 

Next time out, Oklahoma will host Virginia on Friday at 8 p.m.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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