Sooners Host Southern in Final Home Game of 2022

NORMAN – No. 24/20 Oklahoma (8-1) looks to extend its winning streak to six games on Sunday when it hosts Southern (3-7) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The game will be available via stream on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Dan Hughes on the call. Brian Brinkley will call the action on the Sooner Radio Network live on 1520 KOKC in Oklahoma City.

The Sooners will celebrate Holiday Night at the LNC during the game with an appearance from Santa at halftime, as well as the best ticket deal of the season as fans can purchase $2 tickets for the game. Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite holiday outfit.

THE STARTING FIVE

For the second season consecutive year under Jennie Baranczyk, Oklahoma is 8-1 after last year's team started 12-1. The Sooners remain a perfect 19-0 under Baranczyk in non-conference games vs. unranked opponents. Oklahoma has won all five games at Lloyd Noble Center this season and hasn't lost a regular season non-conference game at home since the 2020-21 season opener. The Sooners are 22-2 in regular season non-conference home games in the last four seasons.
Madi Williams enters Sunday afternoon eight points shy of 2,000 career points. She would become the eighth Sooner all-time to eclipse the milestone and join teammate Taylor Robertson in the 2K club. The two would be the only teammate pair in the country to have 2,000 points, and it would mark the first time in OU history that an Oklahoma team had a pair of 2K scorers.
Sunday's game puts the Sooners up against a Southern team that ranks in the bottom 70 nationally in both scoring offense and defense. Oklahoma's offense scores 88 points per game, good for sixth most in the country. The Sooners' scoring margin of 12.8 PPG is in the top 75 in the country, while Southern's margin of -17.3 is 325th in the country.
Taylor Robertson needs four 3-pointers to become second all-time in career 3-pointers as her chase of Kelsey Mitchell's record of 497 continues. Robertson has made at least one 3-pointer in 51 straight games and 104 of her last 105 games. Across her 127 career games played, she has made five 3-pointers in 39 games (tied for an NCAA record) while only failing to make one from deep three times.
A focal point of the offseason, the Sooners have been the Big 12's best rebounding team this season and post 46.00 boards per game (10th NCAA). Oklahoma forces opponents into lots of missed shots and scoops the rebound. The Sooners' 32.9 defensive rebounds per game rank fifth nationally and first in the Big 12. Oklahoma is 20-2 under Baranczyk when outrebounding its opponent and 6-0 this season.

SERIES HISTORY

For just the third time ever, Oklahoma will take on Southern on the hardwood. The all-time series is tied 1-1, but the two programs haven't met since 1994. The Sooners won the most recent meeting, 100-72, in 1994 but Southern owns the series' biggest win - the SWAIAW Regional Championship in 1978.

LAST TIME OUT

Powered by a rebounding and 3-point shooting clinic, No. 23 Oklahoma cruised past Robert Morris, 94-65, Sunday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The Sooners (8-1, 0-0 Big 12) rode a dominant first quarter to a wire-to-wire victory, extending its winning streak to five games. Oklahoma outrebounded Robert Morris (6-4, 1-1 Horizon) 59-32 and buried 10 treys against the Colonials' top-10 3-point defense. A season-high six Sooners reached double figures in the win.

UP NEXT

Primed for a marquee nationally-televised matchup, the Sooners travel to Charlotte, N.C., for a Dec. 21 showdown with Florida (10-1) at the Jumpman Invitational at 8:30 p.m. CT. The game will air nationally on ESPN 2 with Eric Frede, Debbit Antonelli and Angel Gray on the call.