Sooners Drop Battle to No. 6 LSU

Sunday, January 18

Norman, Okla.

2 PM

University of Oklahoma

14-4,2-3SEC

LSU

17-2,3-2SEC

LSU

Oklahoma

January 18, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats

By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Flau'jae Johnson had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 6 LSU beat No. 13 Oklahoma 91-72 on Sunday.

Jada Richard added 21 points for the Tigers (17-2, 3-2 SEC), who knocked off the Sooners after beating then-No. 2 Texas last Sunday.

Payton Verhulst scored 21 points and Raegan Beers added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Sooners (14-4, 2-3).

LSU, the nation's leader with just over 100 points per game, got the best of an Oklahoma squad that ranked second with nearly 91 points per contest. LSU outscored Oklahoma 29-8 at the free throw line and two Sooners fouled out.

The game was a continuation of Oklahoma's longtime rivalry with LSU coach Kim Mulkey. The Sooners faced her often as Big 12 rivals when Mulkey coached Baylor and Oklahoma was still in the Big 12.

Oklahoma ran out to a 13-4 lead on Sunday, but LSU closed the first quarter on a 20-3 run to take a 24-16 lead into the second.

LSU led 45-35 at halftime behind 15 points from Johnson. The Tigers held Chavez to three points on 1-for-6 shooting before the break.

The Tigers expanded their lead to 70-52 at the end of the third quarter.

OU hosts No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday at the Lloyd Noble Center. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

POSTGAME NOTES

• No. 13 Oklahoma (14-4, 2-3 SEC) fell to No. 6 LSU (17-2, 3-2 SEC) in front of a sellout crowd of 10,890 at Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday afternoon.

• The sellout marked the first for a women's game at the LNC since Feb. 28, 2009, when OU defeated Oklahoma State. Oklahoma is now 27-10 at home when playing in front of 10,000 fans or more.

• The loss marked just the third time Oklahoma has dropped three consecutive games (all to ranked teams) since head coach Jennie Baranczyk took over in 2021, and the first such stretch since the 2023-24 season. Additionally, the Sooners have dropped back-to-back home conference games for the first time since 2020.

• Oklahoma opened the game on an 11-2 run, knocking down its first three 3-point attempts after making just two in its previous outing. OU finished with 12 made 3-pointers, suffering its first loss when hitting a dozen triples since Feb. 17, 2024, at West Virginia. The Sooners had not lost a home game with 12 or more 3s since a 96-90 setback to Missouri State on Nov. 14, 2019.

• Senior Payton Verhulst led the Sooners with 21 points, hitting a season-high five 3-pointers on 7 of 17 shooting. She added three rebounds, three assists and three steals for her first 20-point game of the season and 12th of her career.

• Raegan Beers recorded the 59th double-double of her career, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Limited by foul trouble in the first half, the All-American played 27 minutes and was the lone Sooner with a positive plus-minus (+5). Her 59 career double-doubles rank second all-time among Sooners, while her 29 in just two seasons with the Sooners would rank sixth. Beers' 14 double-doubles in 18 games lead the nation in 2025-26.

• Oklahoma continued to share the ball at an elite level, dishing out 24 assists on 26 made field goals. The 92.3% assist rate marked the team's highest of the season and the third-highest single-game assist percentage by OU since 2009.

• Oklahoma returns to action Thursday, hosting No. 2 South Carolina at 6:30 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The game will air on ESPN and concludes a four-game stretch against ranked opponents, the program's first such regular-season run since 2009.