University of Oklahoma Athletics
Moments of the Year
May 14, 2020 | Athletics
As the University of Oklahoma held its virtual graduation ceremony this past weekend, the 2019-20 academic year officially came to a close. From the full fall seasons to the cut-short spring, OU Athletics had yet another strong season of incredible performances, unforgettable plays and glimpses of Sooner Magic.
The 2019-20 season gifted Sooner Nation with legendary comebacks, overtime thrillers, perfect routines and a no-hitter hero.
Join us in looking back at the top moments of the year.
October 3: Soccer vs. Kansas State
For the seventh time in the 2019 season, the Sooners found themselves headed to overtime. Redshirt senior Kaylee Dao had already come up with a golden goal twice during the season and the Sooners would need that Sooner Magic once again to pull off the conference victory.
Kansas State came out firing early, taking the lead in the 20th minute. Dao would knot things up at 1-all in the 31st minute, but the Wildcats would take back the lead just after halftime. Dao came through again to tie things up at 2-2 in the 62nd minute sending the Sooners to overtime for the second straight game.
After getting her team back even with the Wildcats, Dao would record her first career hat trick and just the fourth in program history as she netted the game-winner in the 98th minute. It would be her third of four golden goals during the season as she cemented herself in the record books.
Game Recap | Highlights | Photo Gallery | Full Replay | Winning Goal
October 4: Rowing at Head of the Oklahoma
The Oklahoma rowing team opened the 2019 fall season with a strong performance at the Head of the Oklahoma on Oct. 4.
The Sooners collected four top-five finishes on the day, including a victory from their B boat in the Collegiate 4+ with a time of 15:24.81, defeating 28 other boats. In the OG&E Night Sprints, Oklahoma recorded a second-place finish in the 500m 8+ Grand Final, crossing the line in 1:28.48.
October 16: Volleyball vs. Kansas State
With their starting setter out with injury and an undefeated home winning streak on the line, the Sooners knew that their match against Kansas State was going to be a challenge. In what would turn out to be a thrilling five-set match, the Sooners pulled off an incredible reverse sweep to improve to 7-0 at home.
Junior setter Kylee McLaughlin sat out the first two sets while recovering from an injury suffered in the previous match, watching as the Sooners found themselves in a 0-2 hole. McLaughlin started the third set and a switch was flipped as the Sooners took the next two sets to even things up.
With the match on the line, the Sooners found themselves trailing 10-4 in the deciding set. OU would rally back to tie the frame at 12-all thanks to a huge block by senior middle blocker Brianna Kadiku and senior outside hitter Ashlynn Dunbar. With the Wildcats looking at match point, a service error would put OU back in control. Dunbar fired off back-to-back kills to complete the comeback and put the match away for the Sooners.
Match Recap | Highlights | Photo Gallery | Full Replay | Winning Moment
November 3: Men's Golf at Kaanapali Classic
The Oklahoma Men's Golf team made a statement at the Ka'anapali Classic to close the fall 2019 season. The team shattered school records to win the tournament posting a three-day score of 805 (-47).
The win was a definition of team effort. Four Sooners landed in the top-25 to seal the title. Leading the Sooners was senior Quade Cummins. Cummins birdied his first seven holes on Sunday to light up his individual score card. He went on to fire a 29 on the front leading to a bogey-free 62 (-9) on the day. Cummins final round matched the record for lowest round by a Sooner.
His 54-hole score of 193 (-20) set the school record for lowest tournament round and broke current PGA Tour star Abraham Ancer's 195 (-21) set in 2011.
The low scores and solid team performance earned the Sooners their second victory of the season and will be known as their moment of the year.
November 16: Football at Baylor
Needing a mid-November win at No. 12 and undefeated Baylor to keep its CFP chances alive, 10th-ranked Oklahoma found itself in trouble in the first half. Big trouble.
Baylor scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions to take a 28-3 lead, and carried a 31-10 advantage to halftime. From there, though, it was all Sooners.
OU cut the margin to 31-17 on a 3-yard Austin Stogner TD reception on the opening possession of the second half. After the Sooners forced a fumble and punt on the Bears' next two drives, Theo Wease's hard-fought 19-yard catch-and-score made the score 31-24 early in the fourth. Then with 5:25 to go, Jalen Hurts found Brayden Willis in the end zone to knot the score at 31.
A third straight BU punt gave the Sooners the ball at their own 27 with 4:15 left, and they drove 59 yards to set up a 31-yard Gabe Brkic go-ahead field goal with 1:45 on the clock. With BU driving for a potential game-winning score, linebacker Nik Bonitto intercepted a pass at the OU 38-yard line with 29 seconds to go to give the Sooners their largest comeback win in school history. They outgained Baylor by 299 yards in the second half (368-69).
Game Recap | Highlights | Photo Gallery | Full Replay | No-Huddle Replay | FWAA Team of the Week
The Sooners trailed by 25 in a road battle with No. 12 Baylor before setting up the largest comeback victory in OU history.
January 8: Women's Basketball at Oklahoma State
It was Bedlam indeed as the Sooners pulled off a 77-75 upset of Oklahoma State in the final seconds of the game in Stillwater on Jan. 8.
With the game tied at 75 with three seconds on the clock, Madi Williams hit a layup off an in-bounds lob from Tatum Veitenheimer to lift the Sooners to victory.
The Sooners trailed by nine points headed into the fourth quarter, but used a 16-point run to close the gap. It was Williams who hit a three-pointer to tie the
game at 75, then laid the ball in off the glass to seal the win.
With the victory, OU handed Oklahoma State its first loss to an unranked opponent this in 2019-20 and earned its first win in Stillwater since 2017.
Game Recap | Highlights | Full Replay | Photo Gallery
January 11: Men's Gymnastics at Rocky Mountain Open
At the season-opening Rocky Mountain Open, the Sooners collected a final tally of 409.900 to defeat No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 13 Air Force and No. 17 Washington and push head coach Mark Williams past the 500-win mark.
OU won five of six events as a team on its way to its 20th Rocky Mountain Open victory in the meet's last 21 editions. Regular Season All-American Vitaliy Guimaraes won or took a share of three collegiate event titles on the night, and the trio of Alexei Vernyi, Gage Dyer and David Sandro swept the collegiate all-around podium.
With four victories, Williams reached 502 career wins to open his 21st season at the Sooners' helm. After the 2020 season, his career record is an impressive 506-39 (.928) with nine national championships, 17 conference titles and six undefeated seasons. He's also led OU student-athletes to 225 All-America honors and coached at five Olympic Games.
Meet Recap | Highlights | Congrats Coach Williams
February 2: Men's Tennis vs. Florida State
For the third straight season, the Sooners headed to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., for a top-25 matchup at the home of American tennis. And for the third straight season, the Sooners came out on top of a thriller there.
The Sooners met No. 15 Florida State in Orlando on Feb. 2. Oklahoma opened the match with the doubles point thanks to wins on courts one and three. But Florida State jumped out to a 3-1 lead when singles action began and the Sooners had work to do.
With three matches remaining, Alex Martinez, Justin Schlageter and Jochen Bertsch rallied to save the match with all three battling through three sets. Martinez defeated a ranked player 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 at the No. 4 line before Schlageter tied the match with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory on court five.
The contest came down to Bertsch, OU's lone senior, on court six. Leading 5-4 on serve, Bertsch held at deuce point for a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win to secure a 4-3 Sooner Magic victory for the Sooners.
February 14: Women's Gymnastics vs. West Virginia & TWU
For the first time during the 2020 season, the Sooners debuted a vault lineup with six 10.0 start value vaults. The meet started with a bang as the team notched a program-record 49.775 on the event with all five counting scores over 9.9. The Sooners bested the previous record of 49.700, a mark that had stood since 2014.
Sophomores Olivia Trautman and Allie Stern led things off with near perfection and matching 9.975s on their Yurchenko 1.5s. Senior Jade Degouveia kept the momentum going with a 9.9 in the No. 3 spot, followed by a stick and a 9.925 for junior Anastasia Webb.
The icing on the cake in the rotation was a perfect 10 for senior Maggie Nichols in the No. 5 spot. The perfect score was the 20th of Nichols' career and her eighth on vault. The Sooners would go on to record a 198.400, the second-highest score in the nation in 2020 and the fourth-best in program history.
Meet Recap | Highlights | Photo Gallery | Full Replay | Vault Rotation
Senior Maggie Nichols capped off OU's program-record vault rotation with the 20th perfect 10 of her career.
February 15: Softball at Arizona
Following its first loss of the season earlier in the day, No. 2/3 Oklahoma responded with one of the biggest wins of the shortened 2020 college softball season in Tuscon, Ariz.
Down two runs to No. 4/4 Arizona entering the sixth inning in front of a sold-out home crowd at Hillenbrand Stadium, the Sooners climbed back to tie the game at 4 with a home run from Lynnsie Elam and an RBI from Taylon Snow to send the game to extras.
In the 10th inning, with the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Snow singled to short to advance Mackenzie Donihoo to third. Later in the inning, Grace Green popped a ball to shallow left field that was dropped, allowing Donihoo and Snow to score for the game's final runs.
Shannon Saile came in to register her fourth save of the season, retiring the final two Wildcat batters to clinch the top-five victory for OU, 6-4. Olivia Rains notched the first win of her career in the circle, giving up just one hit while striking out two in 4.2 innings of relief work.
Game Recap | Highlights | Full Replay | Hype Video
February 24: Women's Golf at Westbrook Invitational
Looking to set the tone for a strong spring slate to its season, the OU women's golf team took the course at Westbrook Golf Club in Peoria, Arizona, on February 23-24.
On the opening day at Westbrook the Sooners would take command of the leaderboard. OU carded rounds of 277 (-11) and 274 (-14) on day one at the event to hold a one-stroke lead over Mississippi State after 36 holes of play.
The next morning the Sooners took the course and fired a six-under 282 to finish the tournament at 31-under, setting a school record for the lowest score vs. par at a 54-hole tournament. Ellen Secor led the Sooners with three rounds in the 60s (68-69-66) to finish in second place. Secor's score of 203 is tied for the second best three-round score in OU history.
Veronique Drouin-Luttrell's team would take the momentum gained at Westbrook to its next event where the Sooners finished in fifth place among seven top-50 teams.
Tournament Recap | By the Numbers
February 29: Track & Field at Big 12 Indoor Championships
Under the new guidance of Tim Langford, the 2020 Oklahoma track and field team turned heads at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
The Sooners claimed two conference titles on the weekend courtesy of Jackson Webb in the men's 60 meters and Lavinja Jurgens in the women's high jump. Webb, a dual-sport athlete that also plays wide receiver for the OU football team, claimed the 60-meter dash title by .01 of a second, while Jurgens won the high jump crown in a jump-off. Jurgens would go on to be named Big 12 Women's Outstanding Freshman of the Year.
Additionally, a school record fell at the championships with Kristo Simulask taking second in the men's heptathlon with a program-best 5,691 points.
At the conclusion of the meet, OU claimed 19 top-five finishes and the men's team took fourth while the women claimed fifth. It was the highest indoor conference championship finish for the OU men since 2015.
Recap | Highlights | Hype Video
In the ultimate pitching duel, the Sooners bested LSU 1-0 behind a brilliant no-hitter thrown by Dane Acker.
March 1: Baseball vs. LSU
Dane Acker pitched Oklahoma's first individual no-hitter since 1989 to lead Oklahoma to a 1-0 win over LSU at the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
Acker struck out 11 batters and allowed just two free passes in the first no-hitter in the 20-year history of the College Classic. His feat was the seventh individual no-hitter in Oklahoma baseball history, and the first since Jim Huslig against Old Dominion in 1989.
Acker and LSU starter AJ Labas dueled with matching no-hitters for seven innings until catcher Justin Mitchell led off the eighth inning with a home run. It was the first career home run for the junior catcher, who called all of the pitches with Acker throughout the game.
The no-hitter was the 11th individual no-hitter in Big 12 history and first since 2017. It was the first time the LSU program has been no-hit in a nine-inning game in recorded history.
Game Recap | Highlights | Full Replay | Photo Gallery | Acker Interview
March 7: Men's Basketball at TCU
Heading into the final game of the regular season, the Sooners knew what was on the line in their game at TCU. A win would give OU the No. 3 seed at the upcoming Big 12 Championship and solidify its place as an NCAA Tournament team, while a loss could put the Sooners back on the bubble.
The Horned Frogs came out hot, taking a commanding 20-point lead late in the first half. Despite trailing by 18 at halftime, the Sooners weren't ready to give in. Led by junior guard Austin Reaves, OU fought all the way back by using 21-9 run in the final 5:02 to tie the game at 76.
After willing his team back into the game, Reaves clinched the victory on a game-winning fadeway in the final second. He finished with 41 points (the most by a Big 12 player since Trae Young) and Oklahoma ended its season with a heavy dose a Sooner Magic.
Game Recap | Highlights | Full Replay | Reaves Named Player of the Week
Austin Reaves willed OU back from 20 down, scoring 41 points and sinking the game-winning shot.
March 8: Women's Tennis vs. Texas Tech
A match doesn't get any closer than a three-set battle in the last match on. That was the case on March 8 when the Sooners hosted Texas Tech during the opening weekend of Big 12 play.
With the match tied at 3-all, the contest came down to newcomer Marcelina Podlinska, who battled out a gutsy 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win on court five.
OU had won the doubles point handily before the Lady Raiders surged back to take a 3-2 lead in the match in singles play. A win from Camila Romero on court six tied things up, leaving Podlinska to decide the match.
The Olsztyn, Poland, native won her first set 6-4 before Texas Tech's Isa DiLaura took the second frame 6-4. Podlinksa ran away with the deciding set and the match – after a tie at 2-all, Podlinksa led the remainder of the frame to win 6-3 and seal the 4-3 victory for the Sooners.
Match Recap | Highlights | Full Replay
March 8: Wrestling at Big 12 Championship
Riding a 25-plus year streak of qualifying five or more wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, the OU wrestling team entered the final day at the Big 12 Championship with three qualifications in Dom Demas, Anthony Mantanona and Tony Madrigal.
The fourth qualification came when Justin Thomas solidified a top-five finish after a win in the consolation bracket at 157 pounds. But the Sooners would need a strong performance from at least one more wrestler to keep the streak alive.
In what would end up being the last event of his collegiate career, three-time NCAA qualifier Christian Moody needed to win out to punch his ticket to NCAAs. Moody took the mat in the consolation bracket and pinned the No. 4 seed and then the No. 2 seed and national falls leader to secure his spot and keep OU's streak alive.
The Sooners would go on to qualify six wrestlers for the national championships after Jake Woodley clinched his spot in the 197-pound bracket.
Tournament Recap | Moody's Pin
