Women's Hoops Primed For Jumpman Showdown With Florida

CHARLOTTE – Winners of six straight games, No. 23/18 Oklahoma is primed for the marquee game of its non-conference schedule as it travels to the Jumpman Invitational to take on (--/RV) Florida (11-1) on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 8:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on ESPN 2 with Eric Frede, Debbie Antonelli and Angel Gray on the call. On the Sooner Radio Network, Brian Brinkley and Kevin Henry will call the action.

The Sooners are set to take on the Gators at the inaugural Jumpman Invitational hosted by Jordan at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. All four invited teams (Oklahoma, Michigan, North Carolina and Florida) are Jordan Brand schools.

THE STARTING FIVE

The Sooners are ranked in both the AP Poll (#23) and the WBCA Coaches Poll (#18), as well as garnering a No. 5 seed in the latest NCAA bracketology. Oklahoma returns over 90% of its scoring, rebounding and assists from last season's 25-win NCAA Tournament team.
For the second consecutive year under Jennie Baranczyk, Oklahoma is off to a 9-1 after last year's team started 12-1. The Sooners remain a perfect 20-0 under Baranczyk in non-conference games vs. unranked opponents. During its six-game winning streak, the Sooners have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 22 points.
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 has made a 3-pointer in 52 consecutive games, a streak that dates back to Feb. 21, 2021. If the sharpshooter sinks a 3-pointer vs. the Gators, she would tie her own Big 12 record of 53 straight games with a made deep ball. During the nearly two-year-long streak, Robertson has made 169 total 3-pointers and shot at a 42.4% clip, making at least five treys in a game 13 different times.
Oklahoma is the only school in the country to have to active 2,000-point career scorers in Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson, who both eclipsed the milestone this season. Robertson became the seventh Sooner to ever hit 2,000 points in a win over BYU on Dec. 16, while Williams joined the 2,000-point club on Dec. 18 vs. Southern. While the two are the seventh and eighth all-time Sooners to score 2,000 points, the 2022 team is the first in program history to have two players with 2,000 career points simultaneously.

SERIES HISTORY

The Sooners and Gators will meet for just the second time on Wednesday night. Florida claimed victory in the only other meeting in series history, knocking off OU 80-61 in the 2017 Big 12/SEC Challenge. Oklahoma is 79-77 all-time vs. SEC opponents, and Baranczyk is 2-0 vs. SEC teams as the Oklahoma head coach, knocking off Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

LAST TIME OUT

Behind another stout defensive performance, No. 24 Oklahoma extended its winning streak to six games after a 76-50 victory over Southern at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Sunday. In Oklahoma's (9-1, 0-0 Big 12) final home game of 2022, redshirt senior Madi Williams became the eighth Sooner all-time to eclipse 2,000 career points as the forward joined teammate Taylor Robertson in the 2,000-point club to make OU the only team in the country with a pair of 2,000-point scorers.