OU Prepped For No. 4 Baylor in Big 12 Semifinal

²¹ Oklahoma

⁴ Baylor

Saturday, March 12, 2022 / 12 p.m. CT / Kansas City / Municipal Auditorium

Tickets / TV / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

KANSAS CITY – 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. 1-seeded Baylor in the semifinal of the championship on Saturday at noon on ESPN+. The Sooners defeated fifth-seeded Kansas 80-68 in Friday's quarterfinal to notch their first win at the tournament since 2016.

The game is slated for an 12 p.m. tip on ESPN+ with Brenda VanLengen and Holly Warlick 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 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 83.5 points per game rank fourth nationally and first in the league as 19.2 assists (4th in NCAA) per game power the attack.
The improvement for Oklahoma women's basketball from 12-12 last season to 24-7 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 12-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

Madi Williams had 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, Taylor Robertson also scored 19 points and No. 21 Oklahoma beat Kansas 80-68 on Friday to advance to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship semifinals. The Sooners erased a double-digit deficit for the seventh time this season to win, erasing a 10-point KU lead Friday. Fourth-seeded Oklahoma (24-7), which picked up its first conference tournament victory since 2016, avenged a 73-67 loss at home against the Jayhawks five days ago in the regular-season finale.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's matchup is the 62nd all-time between the Bears and Sooners with Baylor holding a 33-28 series lead, but the Sooners have won two straight. Prior to this season's victories, OU hadn't beaten BU since 2015 and also secured its first top-15 win since 2017 in that win. The Sooners are 3-1 all-time at the Big 12 Championship vs. Baylor. Oklahoma won the first three matchups before Baylor finally knocked off the Sooners in 2016. The Sooners are 2-0 vs. the Bears in Kansas City

UP NEXT

A win on Saturday would punch OU's ticket to the Big 12 Championship final for the first time since 2010, which would tip at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.