FGCU falls to Sooners in NCAA tourney
After a slow start, the Oklahoma women’s basketball team picked up the pace in the second half, holding off FGCU for a 73-70 victory Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
Junior guard Payton Verhulst’s turnaround jumper with 48 seconds remaining snapped a 70-70 tie and gave the Sooners the lead for good.
Trailing by three points with 15 seconds left, the Eagles (29-5) had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Dolly Cairns and Uju Ezeudu each missed 3point tries, with Ezeudu’s hitting the front of the rim at the buzzer.
Senior forward Skylar Vann, the coBig 12 Player of the Year, had a gamehigh 24 points for the Sooners (23-9), which ended the Eagles’ 22-game winning streak. Oklahoma will face No. 4 Indiana (25-5) in a Round of 32 game on Monday. The Hoosiers defeated No. 13 Fairfield 89-56 on Saturday, snapping the Stags’ 29-game winning streak.
Redshirt junior Emani Jefferson led FGCU with 22 points and 12 rebounds while redshirt senior Brylee Bartrum had 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3point range.
Oklahoma picked up its pace on both offense and defense
The Sooners’ vaunted fast-paced offense got on track in the second half as Vann started dominating in the low block.
But Oklahoma also made things difficult for FGCU on the offensive end, holding the Eagles to sub-36% shooting in the final three quarters. The Sooners also started getting to the free throw line, outscoring FGCU 17-9 at the charity stripe.
FGCU’s 3-point shooting helped build early lead
Leading up to Saturday’s game, Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said the Sooners had plenty of respect for the Eagles and wouldn’t allow FGCU to sneak up on them. However, that didn’t stop the Eagles from sprinting to a 16-3 lead just 3:56 into the game, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from fifth-year player Ajulu Thatha and one each from senior Dolly Cairns and redshirt junior Emani Jefferson.
Oklahoma meanwhile started 1-of- 5 from the floor and struggled to play at its typical fast pace. The Sooners also allowed FGCU to start the game with two free throws after being assessed an administrative technical foul because they were late turning in their starting lineup to the game’s officials. Fifth-year player Uju Ezeudu hit one of two free throws to give the Eagle a 1-0 lead before the opening jump ball.
FGCU led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter behind eight points from Jefferson.
The Sooners came to life in the second quarter as the Eagles’ shooting cooled off. FGCU shot just 4-of-15 (26.7%) in the frame and committed seven turnovers. However, the Eagles still managed to maintain a 35-33 lead at the break thanks to shooting 6-of-14 from 3-point range.