Sooners Open Postseason With Rematch vs. Kansas

²¹ Oklahoma

Kansas

Friday, March 11, 2022 / 11 a.m. CT / Kansas City / Municipal Auditorium

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NORMAN – The 21st-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team is in Kansas City, Mo., this week for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship. The Sooners, seeded fourth, take on No. 5-seeded Kansas in the quarterfinal of the championship on Friday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.

The game is slated for an 11 a.m. tip on ESPNU with a simulcast on ESPN+ with Chuckie Kempf and Andrea Lloyd on the call. The game will also air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the action.

THE STARTING FIVE

The Sooners seek their first Big 12 Championship since 2009 and 12th title overall. Oklahoma hasn't won a game at the conference championship since 2016. Oklahoma enters the week ranked 21st in the AP Poll and was tabbed as the No. 16 overall seed in the NCAA Selection Committee's final Top 16 reveal.
A pair of Sooners in Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson were unanimous selections to the All-Big 12 First Team as voted on by the league's coaches. Oklahoma was the only team in the league to land two unanimous selections on the league's first team as the two became the first Sooner pair to both land on the first team since Aaryn Ellenberg and Whitney Hand in 2012. Skylar Vann was named the Big 12's 6th Player of the Year after averaging double-digit points and over five rebounds per game off the bench. Freshman point guard Kelbie Washington earned a spot on the All-Freshman team.
Oklahoma's high-powered offensive attack is one of the best in the country and fighting to be the best in program history. OU's 83.7 points per game rank fourth nationally and first in the league as 19.01assists (4th in NCAA) per game power the attack.
The improvement for Oklahoma women's basketball from 12-12 last season to 23-7 in Baranczyk's first year marks the first time in program history for a first-year coach to improve by 10 wins in their first season. The 11-win jump is the second-largest overall in program history, trailing only Cathie Schweitzer, who increased the team's win total by 16 between the 1977 and 1978 seasons.
The Sooners appear in the latest version of Charlie Creme's ESPN Bracketology as a No. 4 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 erased a 13-point second-half deficit but couldn't complete the comeback Saturday, falling to Kansas 73-67 in Norman to close the regular season. The loss dropped No. 19 Oklahoma (23-7, 12-6) to the No. 4 seed at next week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, where it will get a rematch with No. 5-seeded Kansas (20-8, 11-7) at 11 a.m. Friday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City in the conference quarterfinal. Skylar Vann once again led the Sooners offensively with 17 points, including a career-high four made 3-pointers. In addition, the Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year candidate pulled down five rebounds in her effort. Taylor Robertson hit two 3-pointers to finish with 14 points as the McPherson, Kan., product added four assists in the loss. Nydia Lampkin, the only senior honored for Senior Day, finished with six points and a season-high eight rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY

Friday's matchup is the 78th all-time between the Sooners and Jayhawks. OU owns a 43-34 series lead but dropped the most recent contest in Norman last Saturday, 73-67. The Sooners are 3-0 all-time in postseason play vs. Kansas, with all three meetings coming in the conference tournaments. Despite OU's 3-0 record in postseason play, KU maintains a 5-4 advantage over Oklahoma at neutral sites.

UP NEXT

A win on Friday gives Oklahoma a 12 p.m. showdown on Saturday with either No. 1 Baylor, No. 8 TTU or No. 9 OSU. The Sooners swept top-seeded Baylor in the first round, swept Bedlam rival Oklahoma State and split with Texas Tech.