Robertson's Buzzer-Beater Sinks K-State

Saturday, February 26

Norman

4 PM

University of Oklahoma

22-6,11-5Big 12

Kansas State

18-10,8-8Big 12

Kansas St.

Oklahoma

Robertson's Buzzer-Beater Sinks K-State

February 26, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photos Highlights Baranczyk and Robertson Coach Coale Recognition Coale Postgame Box Score

By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN – Taylor Robertson sunk a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner to give No. 20 Oklahoma a 72-69 win over Kansas State on Saturday in Norman.

The win keeps Oklahoma (22-6, 11-5) in a tie for third in the Big 12 Conference, two games back of No. 5 Baylor and No. 9 Iowa State as the league enters the final week of the regular season. Madi Williams notched her eighth double-double of the season, and Robertson sunk all four of her 3-point attempts in the final frame to avenge an early-season loss to Kansas State.

"What a game. What a finish," head coach Jennie Baranczyk said after the win. "Kansas State is obviously a very good basketball team that provides some very big matchup problems for us. I thought they (K-State) were incredible and I thought we did a really nice job of playing together."

In a game that featured 15 lead changes, K-State opened the game on a 6-0 run before the Sooners answered with a 10-0 rush of their own. Madi Williams had eight points by the end of the first quarter, and the Sooners led 19-17.

Oklahoma was dominant defensively in the second quarter, holding Kansas State (18-10, 8-8) to just 11 points on 23% shooting in the frame. The Sooners extended their lead to a game-high nine points with 28 seconds left in the half before Serena Sundell, who finished with a game-high 24 points for KSU, sunk a deep 3-pointer to cut OU's halftime lead to six at 34-28.

The Wildcats scored on their first second-half possession before Oklahoma answered with back-to-back buckets, pushing the lead back to eight. K-State closed the period on an 18-13 run to tie the game at 51 as the teams headed to the final quarter.

With seconds ticking away in regulation, Nevaeh Tot dribbled near the top of the key before finding Madi Williams at the elbow. Williams, who hit the game-winner in double overtime to beat West Virginia, backed her opponent down and kicked it out to Lampkin, who made the extra pass to Robertson in the corner. The Big 12's all-time 3-point leader hit the wide-open shot, her fourth 3-pointer of the quarter, to give Oklahoma the 72-69 win.

"I knew I got the shot off in time," Robertson said after hitting the game-winner. "Whenever I shoot, I always think it's going in and I knew as soon as it left my hands that it was going in. It felt good, it looked good and it was right on line."

Saturday marked a special occasion for the program as OU welcomed back the 2002 Final Four team that became the first OU women's basketball team to make the Final Four and win 30 games. In addition, former head coach Sherri Coale, who spent 25 years as the OU head coach, was honored at halftime of the contest, and a banner with her name and years of tenure was unveiled in the rafters at the Lloyd Noble Center.

"It was just really cool to have Coach Coale back," Robertson added. "To have most of that Final Four team back too was really special. For them to be part of the last few days and to be here today was really cool."

Oklahoma's leading three scorers all hit double-digit points Saturday as Williams, Robertson and Skylar Vann poured in 18, 17 and 10, respectively. Williams' double-double, aided by 10 rebounds, powered the Sooners on both ends of the floor.

OU's defensive effort vs. National Player of the Year candidate Ayoka Lee was the difference in the contest. In January, when the Sooners took on K-State in Manhattan, Lee scored an NCAA record 61 points, leading to a 94-65 Wildcat victory. However, Saturday was different as Oklahoma held Lee to just 13 points, her fifth-lowest total of the season, on just 6-of-13 shooting.

"A huge strategy for us was really to just prevent her from catching the ball as much as possible," Baranczyk said about the defensive plan for Lee. "We tried to throw different things at her in terms of who was helping and who we were gonna have to help off of. When you do that, when you have to completely game plan around one person, you pick people that you don't guard. They made some adjustments to make it tricky for us and then we adjusted to those adjustments, especially in the fourth quarter."

Saturday's win officially gives 20th-ranked Oklahoma a bye in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, as the Sooners are now guaranteed no worse than the No. 5 seed at the conference championship, slated for March 10-13 in Kansas City, Mo.

Oklahoma wraps up its regular-season road schedule on March 2 when it heads north to Stillwater for Bedlam. The Sooners knocked off the Cowgirls in Norman 84-58 earlier this season. Tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.