Sooners Welcome Lady Raiders Wednesday Night

¹⁵ Oklahoma

Texas Tech

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022 / 6 p.m. CT / Norman / Lloyd Noble Center

Tickets / TV / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes / Program

NORMAN – The No. 15/15 Oklahoma women's basketball team returns to the Lloyd Noble Center Wednesday for a matchup with Texas Tech (9-14, 2-10) as the Sooners look to bounce back following a loss on Feb. 12 at No. 14 Texas. The Sooners (20-4, 9-3) enter the contest alone in second in the Big 12 standings, one game back of No. 6 Iowa State.

The game is slated for a 6 p.m. tip on Sooner Sports.tv with Chad McKee and Dan Hughes on the call.

Wednesday's game marks Oklahoma's annual Mental Health Awareness game and green wristbands will be handed out to fans before tip. The Sooners have committed to the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge, where fans can donate a dollar amount for every made OU free throw in February.

Doors to the arena open one hour before tip and the Lloyd Noble Center's clear-bag policy is in effect.

THE STARTING FIVE

The Sooners appeared at No. 15 in the AP Poll on Monday and have posted back-to-back weekly top-15 rankings for the first time since November 2017. In the NCAA Selection Committee's most recent Top 16 reveal, Oklahoma was tabbed the nation's No. 9 team and in ESPN's latest bracketology OU sits on the No. 2 line. The Sooners are one of six teams in the country with 15 wins over NET top-100 teams and one of just five teams to post five NET top-25 wins.
Oklahoma's high-powered offensive attack is one of the best in the country and on pace to be the best in program history. OU's 85.2 points per game rank second nationally and first in the league as 19.4 assists per game power the attack. In addition, Taylor Robertson (17.8 PPG) and Madi Williams (18.5) make Oklahoma one of four teams nationally to boast two 17.8 PPG scorers.
OU has notched four top-25 wins this season, the most ever for a first-year Sooner head coach. Two of those wins have come vs. the No. 9-ranked team in the country as OU upset then-No. 9 Texas 65-63 on Jan. 29 and then-No. 9 Baylor 78-77 a few days later on Feb. 2. The Sooners also notched wins over then-No. 16 BYU and then-No. 14 Baylor.
OU's 20-4 start to the season is its best start since the 2008-09 season when the team opened 24-2 and won 20 straight games. The 2001-02 Final Four team that will be celebrated on Feb. 26 in Norman started 22-2. Baranczyk's .833 winning percentage this year ranks third nationally among first-year head coaches trailing only Stony Brook's Ashley Langford (.870) and LSU's Kim Mulkey (.840). Baylor's Nicki Collen trails Baranczyk at .792 with two of the Bears' five losses coming to the Sooners.
The Sooners appear in the latest version of Charlie Creme's ESPN Bracketology as a No. 2 seed after starting the year as one of the "Last Four In" and a No. 11 seed. The top 16 teams host in the first two rounds of the tournament. A staple of the NCAA postseason, Oklahoma has appeared in 21 NCAA Tournaments, including 19 since the turn of the century. The Sooners' 21 appearances in the tournament are the second most in the Big 12 Conference and tied for 23rd most in NCAA history.

LAST TIME OUT

The 12th-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team battled vs. No. 16 Texas in Austin on Saturday, dropping a 78-63 contest at the Frank Erwin Center. Madi Williams led the Sooners with 16 points and five rebounds, while Taylor Robertson added 13 points of her own in the loss.

SERIES HISTORY

Oklahoma owns a 40-26 advantage in the all-time series vs. Texas Tech and is the winner of three straight. The Sooners lead to series 20-10 in Norman and have won 16 of the last 17 meetings at the Lloyd Noble Center with the lone loss coming in 2020. OU won the matchup in Lubbock on Jan. 2, knocking off the Lady Raiders 97-91 to open conference play 1-0.

UP NEXT

Following Wednesday's showdown with the Lady Raiders, No. 15/15 Oklahoma heads north for a highly-anticipated matchup with No. 6/5 Iowa State in Ames. The game, slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN+, will feature the Big 12's top-two teams as Oklahoma trails the Cyclones by a game in the standings. ISU knocked off Oklahoma 81-71 when the teams met in Norman on Jan. 5.