Oklahoma Breaks Into AP Top 25; Kelbie Washington Lands Big 12 Honor

The Sooners haven't been ranked since 2017 and are on their longest winning streak in more than a decade.

John E. Hoover | Jan 3, 2022

The investments being made by new coach Jennie Baranczyk are paying fast dividends.

OU on Monday finally debuted in this season’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, jumping into the rankings at No. 23 following a 97-91 victory at Texas Tech on Sunday.

After spending the first eight weeks of the season on the fringes of the poll, OU finds itself ranked for the first time since week one of the 2017-18 season.

OUWBB - Kelbie Washington — Kelbie Washington :: Ty Russell / OU Athletics

Baranczyk has Oklahoma off to a 12-1 start (1-0 in Big 12 play) and has won her last nine games. It’s the team’s longest winning streak since 2008-09 and best start since 2006-07, when Sherri Coale’s squad started 17-1.

Since Coale retired at the end of last season and athletic director Joe Castiglione announced Baranczyk as her replacement, the Sooners’ trajectory has been pointed up.

Baranczyk and the Sooners get a chance to back up their ranking this week when OU hosts No. 12 Iowa State (12-1, 1-0) at 6 p.m Tuesday.

Also Monday, freshman Kelbie Washington landed Freshman of the Week accolades from the Big 12.

Washington averaged 10.5 points, 10.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio while helping the Sooners to a 2-0 record last week.

She scored 10 points with seven assists in OU's 97-91 win over Texas Tech, and also filled the stat sheet against Wichita State with 11 points, an OU freshman-record 14 assists, six rebounds and five steals — the first Division I freshman since 2009-10 to post those numbers. Her 14 assists marked an OU freshman record.

Published Jan 3, 2022

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.