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Oklahoma Rallies Past Utah as Taylor Robertson Sets School Record

The Sooners found themselves down by 19 in the second half, but Robertson, Madi Williams and Nevaeh Tot heated up down the stretch.

John E. Hoover

Taylor Robertson drilled her name into the Oklahoma record books as the Sooners erased a 19-point second-half deficit to beat Utah 83-76 at Lloyd Noble Center on Tuesday night.

Robertson became the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals as OU rallied to victory and improved to 10-1 on the season, its best start since 2006-07, when the Sooners opened 17-1.

OU dominated Utah (8-3) in the fourth quarter 32-14 to extend its winning streak to seven games — the program’s longest in six years.

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“I’m really proud of our team,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “I should probably rephrase that, I'm really proud of our team in the fourth quarter and a little bit of the third. Honestly, Utah is a very, very good basketball team and it's been a little bit since we've played, and I couldn't be more proud of the way that we responded tonight.”

Utah led by 10 at hafdltime as OU was held to a season-low 32 first-half points.

An 18-5 Utah run stretched the Oklahoma deficit to 19 points, but that’s when Robertson got going. She hit three free throws to help the Sooners finish the third quarter on a 17-10 run, then opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run.

Robertson made her 377th career 3-pointer a few minutes later, passing Aaryn Ellenberg for the most in school history.

The final six minutes were back and forth before the Sooners clamped down on defense, holding Utah scoreless for a 90-second stretch.

Robertson led the Sooners with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Madi Williams added 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Nevaeh Tot scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter to help erase the deficit.

Robertson’s career total ranks No. 19 in NCAA history, but her 3.97 conversions per game and her 44.6 percent career shooting percentage are both the best among active NCAA players. She now sits 15 3-pointers away from tying Laurie Koehn's Big 12 record of 392 and 120 off Kelsey Mitchell's NCAA record.

Oklahoma finishes non-conference play on Dec. 29 when the Sooners host Wichita State (9-3) at 6 p.m. in Norman. 

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John E. Hoover
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.