Women's Hoops Closes Regular Season at Kansas

NORMAN – Champions of the Big 12 for the second straight year, No. 20 Oklahoma (21-7, 15-2) looks to close the regular season with a win on Saturday when it travels to face Kansas (17-11, 10-7) at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Sooners, who defeated No. 3 Texas in Norman to clinch the conference title outright on Wednesday, have won three in a row and 12 of their last 13. A win would push OU to 16 conference wins, which would be tied for the most in program history with the 2006 team that went 16-0.

Tip is set for 4 p.m. CT at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

THE STARTING FIVE

Oklahoma's outright championship is the program's first since 2009, as the Sooners shared the regular season crown last season with Texas. The Sooners have now won eight total regular season conference titles (7 Big 12, 1 Big 8) and can lock up the team's 22nd win with a victory on Saturday. The Sooners have won a combined 71 games in head coach Jennie Baranczyk's first three seasons, the best stretch at OU since Sherri Coale won 81 games and went to two Final Fours from 2008-10.
Oklahoma is the outright Big 12 champion and has locked up the top seed at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Sooners are a projected 4 seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology and sit at No. 25 in the newest NCAA NET rankings. OU was revealed as the #16 team in the selection committee's latest reveal.
Skylar Vann and Payton Verhulst have starred for OU this year as the two have made strong cases for All-Big 12 honors. Vann, the league's only two-time Sixth Player of the Year, is having a career year and has posted double-digit points in 20 of her last 21 outings. The forward is the only Big 12 player averaging 15.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.0 SPG. Verhulst is riding the best stretch of her career as the guard averaged 15.3 PPG (39% 3P%), 7.4 RPG and 5.4 APG in February with three double-doubles.
A win would match Oklahoma's program record for regular season conference wins with 16. The 2005-06 Sooners went 16-0 in the Big 12, OU's only perfect conference slate. The league moved to an 18-game schedule in 2011-12, and the Sooners' best 18-game record is last year's 14-4 mark.
The Sooners assist/turnover ratio of 1.48 in Big 12 games is the best in the league by .31 as K-State ranks second with a ratio of 1.17. Oklahoma's turnover margin of 1.71 in conference play ranks fifth in the league as OU forces teams into 15.9 TOV/game.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's game marks the 81st meeting between Oklahoma and Kansas, with OU holding a 47-33 series lead. The Sooners are 20-16 in Lawrence.

OU's 47 wins vs. the Jayhawks are the program's second most vs. a single opponent, and OU has won six of the last seven meetings.

LAST TIME OUT

Lexy Keys hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4 seconds left to help No. 20 Oklahoma beat third-ranked Texas 71-70 on Wednesday night and clinch the outright Big 12 title. After a flurry of action, Oklahoma got possession trailing 70-68 with 13.4 seconds remaining. Skylar Vann missed, but scrambled to the ball and saved it to Keys. She hit the corner shot to push her game total to 16 points. Texas called timeout after Keys' basket, but couldn't get off a good shot before the buzzer.

Oklahoma now has won 12 of 13. Payton Verhulst scored 18 points for Oklahoma (21-7, 15-2 Big 12), which split the conference regular-season title with Texas last season. Oklahoma entered the night with a one-game lead and two games remaining for both teams.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will be the No. 1 seed at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and take on the winner of the 8/9 matchup on Saturday, March 9, at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

This year's championship will be held at T-Mobile Center.