Balanced Scoring Powers Sooners Past Gators

Thursday, February 27

O'Connell Center • Gainesville, Fla.

6 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

22-6,10-5SEC

Florida

14-15,5-10SEC

Oklahoma

Florida

Balanced Scoring Powers Sooners Past Gators

February 27, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats

By: OU Athletics Communications

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Payton Verhulst scored 17 points, Raegan Beers added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and No. 13 Oklahoma beat Florida 89-65 on Thursday night for its sixth win in a row.

Skylar Vann scored 13 points, Sahara Williams had 11 points with nine rebounds and Liz Scott also scored 11 points for Oklahoma (22-6, 10-5 SEC).

Verhulst hit two 3-pointers as the Sooners jumped to a 16-4 lead after Zya Vann, who finished with 10 points, made two free throws with 4:20 left in the first quarter. Florida scored the next 10 points to spark a 15-2 run that gave the Gators their first lead when Laila Reynolds hit a 3 to make it 19-8. But Reyna Scott answered with a three-point play 16 seconds later and Oklahoma led the rest of the way.

Liv McGill led Florida (14-15, 5-10) with 14 points. Ra Shaya Kyle scored 11 points with nine rebounds and Alexia Dizeko also scored 11.

Oklahoma shot 44% (31 of 71), outrebounded the Gators 52-39 and outscored them 13-4 in second-chance points. Florida made 22 of 70 (31%) from the field.

The Sooners, in their first season as members of the SEC, went in to the game tied with No. 20 Alabama and Mississippi for fifth in the conference standings, a game behind No. 12 Kentucky. The top four seeds get a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, which begins March 5 in Greenville, South Carolina.

Oklahoma wraps up its regular season when the Sooners play host to Alabama on Sunday and Florida plays at No. 1 Texas.

POSTGAME NOTES

• No. 13 Oklahoma defeated Florida, 89-65, to win its sixth straight game and improve to 22-6 overall and 10-5 in the SEC. The Sooners six-game winning streak is tied for its longest of the season.

• Prior to the contest's tip, Oklahoma was tabbed as the NCAA Selection Committee's No. 13 overall team in its final reveal before Selection Sunday. The top No. 4 seed, Oklahoma would host first- and second-round games of the NCAA Tournament if selections were made today.

• Nevaeh Tot played in her 151^st career game on Thursday, breaking Taylor Robertson's school record for career games played. The Columbus, Ohio, product has won 107 games at Oklahoma, tied with teammate Skylar Vann for the fifth most in program history.

• The Sooners' 24-point win marked their third consecutive 20-point victory and 13^th of the season. Oklahoma, who entered the night fifth nationally in scoring offense, have scored 80+ points in four straight games. The Sooners are now 67-5 under Baranczyk when scoring 80+ and 20-0 this season when holding their opponent under 80.

• Six Oklahoma players scored in double figures in Gainesville on Thursday night – Payton Verhulst (17) scored in double figures for the ninth straight game, Raegan Beers (16), Skylar Vann (13), Liz Scott (11), Sahara Williams (10) and Zya Vann (10) also scored 10+. It's the first time since Feb. 4, 2023, against West Virginia that six Sooners reached 10 points – Vann and Scott were part of that group of six.

• OU won its 10^th SEC game, reaching double-digit conference wins for the fourth season under head coach Jennie Baranczyk. Oklahoma has now produced 19 seasons since 2000 of 10+ conference wins.

• The Sooners stretch of strong second halves continued on Thursday as OU outpaced the Gators by 12 points over the final 20 minutes, their fourth straight double-digit second-half advantage. The Sooners outscore teams by over 11.0 points in the second half this season.

• Up next: The Sooners host No. 20 Alabama (22-6, 9-5 SEC) at Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT in a critical matchup for seeding at the SEC Tournament. Oklahoma, due to Kentucky's win over Tennessee on Thursday, are locked into seeds Nos. 5-8 as the Wildcats are guaranteed a top-four spot in Greenville.