OU Looks To Bounce Back at TCU Wednesday

²⁰ Oklahoma

TCU

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022 / 6:30 p.m. CT / Fort Worth, Texas / Schollmaier Arena

NORMAN – The 20th-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team will look to snap a three-game skid Wednesday night at TCU. The game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. tip on ESPN+ as the Sooners enter the contest two games back of first place in the Big 12 championship race.

The Sooners won the first matchup of the season vs. the Horned Frogs, knocking off TCU 100-71 in Norman on Jan. 15.

THE STARTING FIVE

The Sooners enter the week ranked 20th by the AP Poll and have been ranked in every poll since debuting in the ranking on Jan. 3, snapping a four-year unranked stretch. Oklahoma currently sits in 34th in the NET despite being 14th in RPI and being one of just six teams nationally to have five wins vs. teams in the NET's Top 25, joining five teams inside the top six of the AP poll.
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 84.6 points per game rank second nationally and first in the league as 19.2 assists per game power the attack. In addition, Madi Williams (18.4) and Taylor Robertson (17.2) make Oklahoma one of five teams nationally to boast two 17.0 PPG scorers.
Under coach Jennie Baranczyk, 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 20-6 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. Those two teams are the only teams in program history to reach 20 wins faster in a season than the 2021-22 squad.
The Sooners appear in the latest version of Charlie Creme's ESPN Bracketology as a No. 3 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 Oklahoma women's basketball team downed by No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday night in Ames, falling 89-67 at Hilton Coliseum. Madi Williams led No. 15 Oklahoma (20-6, 9-5) in the top-15 showdown, scoring 20 points and corralling six rebounds in the loss. It's Williams' ninth 20-point game in Big 12 play, second most in the league. Skylar Vann added 15 points of her own on 6-of-9 shooting. Taylor Robertson finished with five points and seven rebounds. With the loss, the Sooners move into fourth place in the Big 12 and two games behind the Cyclones and No. 7 Baylor who maintain the top spot. Iowa State finished with 16 3-pointers on the night, tied the most for an OU opponent in conference play in program history. The Sooners sunk seven treys of their own, but ISU's 47% clip from the field and a perfect 100% mark from the charity stripe was too much to overcome.

SERIES HISTORY

Wednesday's game in Fort Worth marks the 35 all-time meeting between the Sooners and Horned Frogs, with Oklahoma maintaining a decisive 23-11 series lead. OU owns a 9-7 advantage in Fort Worth, but has only won one of the last four meetings at Schollmaier Arena. A win on Wednesday would mark Oklahoma's 100th all-time win in the Lone Star State as the program enters the game with a 99-90 record in Texas, including a 3-1 mark in 2021-22.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma welcomes Kansas State (18-8, 8-6) to Norman on Sat., Feb. 26 for a matchup at the Lloyd Noble Center. The game is slated for a 4 p.m. CT tip on Bally Sports Oklahoma. The Wildcats beat the Sooners, 94-65, in Manhattan on Jan. 23 as K-State center Ayoka Lee set the NCAA single-game record by scoring 61 points. Saturday will be a day of recognition as the Oklahoma women's basketball program welcomes back all alumni and will celebrate the 20-year reunion of the 2002 Final Four team, as well as honor hall of fame head coach Sherri Coale, who retired last season after 25 years at Oklahoma.