Women's Hoops Opens Postseason at SEC Tournament

NORMAN – No. 10 Oklahoma (23-6, 11-5 SEC) begins its first SEC Tournament on Thursday, facing 12th-seeded Georgia (12-18, 4-12 SEC) at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. The Bulldogs knocked off Arkansas on Wednesday to earn a date with the Sooners with tip slated for 12:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network on Thursday.

The winner of OU's game will move on to face fourth-seeded Kentucky in Friday's quarterfinals.

Tip at Bon Secours Wellness Arena is set for 12:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network, with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Nikki Fargas (analyst) on the call. Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Tyler Neal (analyst) will call the action on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (107.7 FM The Franchise Varsity Radio App).

No. 10 Oklahoma vs. Georgia
Date: Thursday, March 6
Tip Time: 12:30 p.m. CT
Location: Greenville, S.C.
Arena: Bon Secours Wellness Arena (15,000)

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NOTES TO KNOW

• Oklahoma had two players named to the All-SEC teams, as selected by the league's 16 coaches. Junior center Raegan Beers earned All-SEC first-team honors, while Payton Verhulst was named to the All-SEC Second Team. The Sooners' two selections tied for the second most in the conference, trailing only LSU's three honorees. Under head coach Jennie Baranczyk, Oklahoma has now produced 13 All-Conference honors in the past four seasons – the program's highest four-year total since earning 16 from 2006-09.

• The Sooners head into postseason play ranked 10th in both the AP poll and WBCA Coaches poll, marking just the fifth time in program history that OU entered March inside the nation's top 10. Oklahoma has appeared in every AP poll this season, opening at No. 10 and climbing as high as No. 8. The team is currently on a 26-week streak appearing in the AP poll – the fourth longest in program history and the longest since a 40-week run from 2015 to 2017.

• Oklahoma is positioned to host first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games for the second time in four seasons, ranking as the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA selection committee's latest reveal on Feb. 27. The Sooners sit at 13th in the NET rankings, boast six Quad 1 wins – the eighth most nationally – and own the highest-ranked Quad 2 win in the country, a 30-point road victory over UNLV (46th in the NET). Entering the SEC Tournament, Oklahoma is projected as a No. 3 seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology.

• No. 10 Oklahoma is set for its first SEC Tournament, entering as the No. 5 seed in Greenville with a bye into the second round. The tournament, held at Bon Secours Wellness Arena for the third consecutive season and seventh time overall, is scheduled to remain there through 2028. In their inaugural SEC season, the Sooners posted an 11-5 conference record, securing marquee wins at Tennessee, at Ole Miss, vs. Alabama, and vs. Vanderbilt. They enter the tournament on a seven-game winning streak.

• A member of the Big 8 Conference from 1982–1996 and the Big 12 Conference from 1996–2024, Oklahoma has been a cornerstone of women's basketball success since the program's inception in 1975 and now brings that pedigree to the SEC. The Sooners have won 13 conference titles, including four postseason championships (2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007), and secured back-to-back Big 12 regular season crowns in 2023 and 2024. Since 2000, OU has appeared in 22 NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Final Four three times and reaching the Sweet 16 nine times.

A WIN WOULD...

• Advance Oklahoma to the SEC quarterfinals where it would face No. 12 Kentucky (4th seed) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

• Mark Oklahoma's first eight-game winning streak in SEC play and the longest since OU won nine straight last season.

• Improve Baranczyk to 4-0 in opening games at conference tournaments.

LAST TIME OUT

• Raegan Beers scored 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and battled through a third-quarter injury to lead No. 13 Oklahoma to a 91-84 win over No. 20 Alabama on Sunday to clinch the No. 5 seed into the Southeastern Conference tournament. The Sooners finished their first season in the SEC on a seven-game win streak. Both teams will have a bye through the first round of the SEC that begins Wednesday in Greenville, S.C. Oklahoma, the No. 5 seed, and Alabama, the No. 6 each play a second-round game Thursday. The teams battled to a 45-45 tie at intermission, but Oklahoma took the lead after Beers, a transfer from Oregon State, tipped in a Lexy Keys miss and added a free throw to make it 54-53 with seven minutes left and start a 9-0 run. Beers went down while battling for an offensive rebound with more than three minutes left in the quarter, clutching her knee and wincing in pain while the game continued. She got up gingerly and continued, grabbing three rebounds as she worked through the discomfort.

UP NEXT

• The Sooners would take on No. 12 Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinal on Friday with a win. Tip is slated for 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Cats knocked off the Sooners in Norman, 95-86, in Norman on Feb. 2.