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No. 9 OU women's basketball falls to No. 5 Texas 80-73

headshotby:George Stoia01/02/25

GeorgeStoia

OU women's basketball Verhulst
Oklahoma Sooners guard Payton Verhulst (12) and Texas Longhorns guard Rori Harmon (3) reach for the ball during a women's college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Texas Longhorns at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. Navy

On Thursday, the No. 9 OU women’s basketball team fell 80-73 to No. 5 Texas in Norman. The Sooners are now 12-2 on the season and 0-1 in SEC play.

Oklahoma started the game well, leading 26-17 after the first quarter. But the Longhorns controlled the pace of the game most of the rest of the way. OU trailed by as many as eight in the third, but were able to tie it at 60 heading into the fourth. But the Sooner offense disappeared in the final quarter, scoring only 13 points in the quarter.

OU struggled offensively, turning the ball over 27 times. That tied a season-high. The Sooners also shot just 2-of-16 from the 3-point line — a season-low at 12.5%.

“We did struggle getting into a flow,” coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “It’s hard to get in a flow when you throw it to the other team. We needed to do a better job taking care of the ball.”

Payton Verhulst led the way for Oklahoma, scoring 23 points. But Verhulst was 1-of-8 from 3. Raegan Beers was ineffective most of the night after getting in foul trouble. She only scored 10 points and had five rebounds.

OU doesn’t get to rest long. The Sooners will play at No. 15 Tennessee on Sunday.

“I don’t think we’re as confident as we need to be right now,” Baranczyk said. “This is one of those games where you hope we get our edge back. I know we can do that. I haven’t seen a team of ours pass up as many shots, either. And then we turn it over after.

“This team is good. We have a really, really good basketball team. So I’m excited to see how we respond. I’m excited to see how we show up tomorrow. I’m excited to see how hungry we continue to get because our best basketball could be ahead of this.”

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