Women's Hoops Set For Exhibition vs. Emporia State

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's basketball team is set to open the second year of the Jennie Baranczyk era. The Sooners host Emporia State in an exhibition game Thursday at 6 p.m. as Oklahoma is set for its final tune-up before the season opener on Nov. 7. The Sooners will celebrate Fan Appreciation Day and admission to the game is free.

Thursday's game will mark Oklahoma women's basketball's debut on SoonerVision on ESPN+ as Chad McKee and Latricia Trammell will have the call. Fans will need an ESPN+ subscription to watch the game. Content is available via a SoonerVision landing page on ESPN+. Brian Brinkley returns as the radio voice of the Sooners for his 22nd season, and will have the game on 1520 AM in Oklahoma City and 99.3 FM in Norman.

THE STARTING FIVE

For the first time since 2017, Oklahoma appeared in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, debuting the season at No. 15. The Sooners were also ranked No. 16 in the USA TODAY WBCA Coaches Poll. The Sooners' ranking of 15th is the team's highest in the preseason poll since the 2013-14 squad opened the year ranked 11th. As one of the most dominant programs of the 21st century, Oklahoma has now been ranked in the top 15 of the preseason AP poll 10 times since 2000.
Thursday night's game marks the start of a season in which the Sooners will look to meet sky-high expectations. Ranked in the preseason AP Poll for the first time in five years, Oklahoma was picked third in a highly-competitive Big 12 Conference by the league's coaches. Powered by the super-senior trio of unanimous preseason All-Big 12 selections of Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson, as well as honorable mention Ana Llanusa, the Sooners look to win their first league title since 2009.
Second-year head coach Jennie Baranczyk will lead a roster that has combined to play over 700 career games, highlighted by Robertson (118), Williams (114) and Llanusa (83). The Sooners return all five starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team and six players from their bench, highlighted by Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year Skylar Vann. A freshman class of four and the addition of Iowa State transfer Aubrey Joens complete Oklahoma's 16-player roster.
Oklahoma went 25-9 in year one of the Jennie Baranczyk era, making the program's first NCAA Tournament since 2017. The Sooners hosted the first two rounds of March Madness for the first time in a decade, falling to Notre Dame in the NCAA Second Round. The improvement for Oklahoma women's basketball from 12-12 in 2020-21 to 25-9 in Baranczyk's first year marked the first time in program history for a first-year coach to improve by 10+ wins in their first season. The 13-win jump is the second-largest overall in program history, trailing only Cathie Schweitzer, who increased the team's win total by 16 between the 1977 and 1978 seasons.
After hosting NCAA Tournament games as a No. 4 seed last season, the Sooners start the 2022-23 campaign as a projected No. 4 seed in ESPN's Charlie Creme's Bracketology. A staple of the NCAA postseason, Oklahoma has appeared in 22 NCAA Tournaments, including 20 since the turn of the century. The Sooners' 22 appearances in the tournament are the second most in the Big 12 Conference and tied for 23rd most in NCAA history.

SERIES HISTORY

The Sooners are 1-0 in regular season contests vs. the Lady Hornets, but the teams have never met in an exhibition. Oklahoma defeated ESU 110-60 in 1984 at Lloyd Noble Center.

UP NEXT

The Sooners open their regular season Nov. 4 vs. Oral Roberts at 4 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center. The game is the first of a "Welcome Back to Basketball" double-header with the Oklahoma men's basketball team playing at 7 p.m.