Oklahoma battled until the clock hit zero but fell to No. 23 Baylor 81-70 at Lloyd Noble Center Tuesday night, snapping the Sooners’ eight-game winning streak and 6-0 start at home.
No. 17 Oklahoma (11-2, 1-1 Big 12) trailed by 16 points after the first quarter but fought back, cutting the Bears’ lead to just four at the break, but despite multiple Sooner runs, the Bears were able to hold onto the lead in the second half to claim the win.
“It was just a hard game. It was really choppy and there wasn’t a lot of rhythm to it,” OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “We weren’t ready, and we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror, starting with me. I really thought at the end of that second quarter that we would start to really get it going, but we’ve got to come out of halftime better and tonight it hurt us.”
Both teams struggled in the early minutes of the game, with the Sooners trailing 5-4 after 2:30 of play, but the Bears (11-3, 2-0 Big 12) jumped on the Sooners over the next 6:41, outscoring OU 16-0 before a Madi Williams free throw made the score 21-5 after the first, OU’s lowest-scoring quarter of the Baranczyk era. But Baranczyk’s team, who has eight double-digit comebacks in the last two seasons, battled back in the second quarter, outscoring Baylor 25-13, powered by an 18-8 run over the last half of the frame to make it 34-30 at the break. However, Baylor put the pressure back on after halftime, and an 11-5 Bears’ run extended the lead back to double digits. The Sooners cut the deficit to seven with 30 seconds left in the third quarter, but a Ja’Mee Asberry bucket and Sarah Andrews’ 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 12 with one quarter remaining. The fourth quarter featured a combined 15 fouls and four different players fouling out, as the teams combined for 24 free throws in the quarter. But the Bears were able to hold the potent Oklahoma offense at bay to secure the 11-point win.
“Give a ton of credit to Baylor,” Baranczyk added. “With the way the game was played, they adjusted to it a whole lot better than we did. I thought they were aggressive. But I think that we just didn’t respond very well.”
A total of 53 fouls were called in the contest, with each team registering over 25 whistles for the first time in a game featuring Oklahoma since February 2021. The Sooners shot 75% (24-of-32) from the charity stripe, while the Bears made 20 of their 27 attempts (74.1%). Oklahoma outrebounded Baylor 42-36, falling for the first time this season when winning on the glass. What downed the Sooners was their season-low 31.1% field goal percentage, as Baylor shot 40.3% (27-of-67).
Ana Llanusa led Oklahoma for the second consecutive game, scoring a team-high 24 points, including a 7-of-8 night from the line. Madi Williams scored 16 points and added eight rebounds before fouling out late in the contest. Taylor Robertson sunk four 3-pointers en route to a 14-point and six-rebound night. Skylar Vann reached double-digit rebounds for the fourth time this season, hauling in 10 boards to go with seven points.
The Sooners will look to bounce back Sunday at Lloyd Noble Center when No. 11 Iowa State (9-2, 1-0 Big 12) comes to Norman for a top-20 showdown. Tip is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN 2.
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