Raegan Beers injury: Oklahoma big heads to locker room after controversial intentional foul

Oklahoma center Raegan Beers was taken to the locker room after suffering a shot to the face in Monday’s second round NCAA Tournament game against Iowa. The incident occurred early in the third quarter as Beers was defending Hawkeyes star Hannah Stuelke as she went up for a layup.

Although it didn’t seem to be on purpose, Stuelke’s elbow caught Beers directly in the face. Beers went down to the floor and took a few moments to gather herself before getting up and walking to the bench. Officials upgraded the call to an intentional foul and the Sooners were given a pair of free throws.

Thankfully, Beers returned to the game at the 6:40 mark after being checked out by the medical staff. OU led just 38-29 at the time of the foul but would put together a 19-9 run over the next six minutes to go up by 20 points.

All in all, she had to sit a total of two minutes before stepping right back into action, making her presence felt almost immediately with a block on defense. OU would go on to extend its lead to as many as 26 points before taking a 68-43 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The Sooners coasted the rest of the way to a dominant 96-62 victory as Beers had a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. They advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the the first time since 2013 and will face the winner between Connecticut and South Dakota State, which are scheduled to play at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Raegan Beers is in her first season at Oklahoma after playing the first two years of her college career for Oregon State. She was a third team All-American in 2023-24 with the Beavers and has gone on to average 17.7 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Sooners this season. She was named first team All-SEC for that performance, which also included shooting 65% from the floor.

OU fans certainly have to be happy seeing her return despite the shot to the face, and she’ll be a pivotal piece as they look to continue their NCAA Tournament run. The Sooners got to host their first two tournament games, but will now head to Spokane, Washington for their Sweet Sixteen matchup.