WBB Game Preview: Oklahoma Hosts No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday

Thursday, January 22

Norman, Okla.

6:30 PM

University of Oklahoma

South Carolina

Tickets From $17 - $55

WBB Game Preview: Oklahoma Hosts No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday

January 21, 2026 | Women's Basketball

By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN — No. 16 Oklahoma (14-4, 2-3 SEC) faces another top-tier test Thursday, closing a four-game stretch against top-20 teams as No. 2 South Carolina (19-1, 5-0 SEC) comes to Norman.

Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN with Ryan Ruocco (pxp) and Andraya Carter (analyst) calling the action. Fans can tune in on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (107.7 FM) with Brian Brinkley and Carolyn Baker or listen in Spanish with Luis Rendon on Los Sooners Radio (1560 AM). Both radio broadcasts will also stream on the Varsity App.

Tickets are still available for sale through the Oklahoma Ticket Office.

FAN INFORMATION AND HOW TO FOLLOW

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center, with tip scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN and on the Sooner Sports Radio Network.

Thursday's game is a White Out and fans are asked to wear white to the game. The first 600 fans will receive white Watch More OU Women's Basketball shirts.

Fans can follow live stats throughout the game, and tickets remain available.

(16) Oklahoma vs. (2) South Carolina
Date: Thursday, Jan. 22
Tip Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

TICKETS
WATCH
LIVE STATS
GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT

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.

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. 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.

THE STARTING FIVE NOTES

• One of the nation's top duos, freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez and senior All-American center Raegan Beers are both Wooden Award midseason top-25 finalists. The pair combines to average 35.5 points per game, ranked ninth among all Power Five duos and third in the SEC, trailing only Florida and South Carolina. Chavez or Beers has led Oklahoma in scoring in 13 games this season, and the Sooners are 11-2 when one of the two is the team's leading scorer. When the duo combines for at least 35 points, OU is 9-1, with the lone loss coming against No. 18 Ole Miss.

• Oklahoma slipped to No. 16 in this week's AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll after dropping its lone game of the week to No. 6 LSU. Oklahoma carries a 40-week active streak in the AP poll (6th longest in NCAA), the third-longest run in program history and the program's longest stretch since a 59-week span from 2000-03.

• The Oklahoma defense has established itself among the nation's best, leading the NCAA in opponent field goal percentage at 31.7% (SCAR 4th in offensive FG%). The Sooners hold opponents 11.9% below their season shooting average and 13.4 points under their scoring norm, ranking seventh nationally in defensive rating (76.9). OU allows just 20.6 paint points per game (4th NCAA) and applies pressure at every level, ranking 32nd nationally in steals per game (11.5) and 10th in blocks per game (6.0). Only two teams this season – Florida State and NC State – have scored above their season scoring average against the Sooners.

• Thursday's contest features two of the nation's top-scoring offenses, with Oklahoma ranked third nationally at 89.8 PPG and South Carolina fifth at 88.7. The Sooners' starting five ranks second nationally (trailing South Carolina) at 69.8 PPG, with all five starters averaging double figures. Oklahoma ranks among the national leaders offensively, posting elite numbers in pace (79.2, 1st), scoring offense (89.8 PPG, 3rd), second-chance points (17.2 PPG, 3rd), fast-break points (18.9 PPG, 3rd), assists (21.1 per game, 4th), paint points (45.1 PPG, 6th) and offensive rating (110.8, 22nd).

• Under Baranczyk, Oklahoma is 2-6 against top-five opponents, with both wins coming at Lloyd Noble Center: a 71-70 victory over then-No. 3 Texas on Feb. 28, 2024, and a 66-63 win against then-No. 2 Kansas State on Jan. 31, 2024. Last season, the Sooners went 0-4 against top-five teams, including two losses to South Carolina and losses to fifth-ranked Texas and No. 3 UConn. Over the past five seasons, Oklahoma has defeated 17 ranked teams, nine at home in Norman.

SERIES HISTORY

Thursday is the fifth all-time meeting between the Sooners and Gamecocks and third in the Baranczyk era. OU holds a 3-2 series lead, but dropped both games to USC last season, including a loss in the SEC Tournament semifinal.

UP NEXT

The Sooners head to Auburn to face the Tigers on Sunday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network. The contest marks OU's first against an unranked opponent since Jan. 4 against Mississippi State.