Skip to main content
oklahoma logo

OU knows it faces big challenge facing UConn in Sweet 16

headshotby:George Stoia•03/28/25•

GeorgeStoia

OU women's basketball
Oklahoma players Raegan Beers, left, and Payton Verhulst at NCAA Women's basketball first round at the Lloyd Noble Center on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma Friday, March 21, 2025.

OU isn’t naive to the challenge it will face on Saturday in Spokane, Washington.

The third-seeded Sooners are 14.5-point underdogs against second-seeded UConn in the Sweet 16. The Huskies are considered one of the favorites to win the national title this season. Many thought UConn should have been a No. 1 seed in the tournament, going 33-3 this season. And it’s led by arguably the best play in the country, senior guard Paige Bueckers.

“You look at UConn, and they have been a dominant program for years, and they still are,” senior guard Payton Verhulst said. “I think just looking at Paige Bueckers, obviously she’s a great player. I do think that the SEC has gotten us ready for really good guards. You look at Georgia Amoore and — I mean, we got to play Kentucky twice, so I think just learning from things like that will definitely benefit us in this game.”

Bueckers has been one of the best basketball players the sport has seen, averaging 19.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game this season. OU likely won’t be able to stop Bueckers, but the Sooners will try to slow her down.

“Paige is a phenomenal scorer,” junior center Raegan Beers said. “You see her and sometimes she can score at will, a lot of the times she can. So it’s going to be a challenge for us tomorrow that we’re excited to go against. We have seen a lot of good guards, Georgia being one of them, and throughout the SEC so much athleticism similar to what UConn brings, Paige especially, and so it’s going to be a fun challenge tomorrow.”

But Bueckers isn’t the only one who can score at a high clip for UConn.

Fellow senior guard Azzi Fudd averages 13.4 points per game, shooting 45.3% from 3. And freshman forward Sarah Strong has been the Huskies’ presence inside, averaging 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

OU is hopeful, after all, that its tough schedule in the SEC has prepared it for the matchup.

“I think being in the SEC has prepared us a lot,” senior forward Skylar Vann said. “We’ve talked about this, I think, just the level of competition and the level of talent. Not a lot of conferences have that. So I think we’re super lucky to experience that this season. I think it’s prepared us completely. And we’ve had to adjust — I think our defense is the best it’s ever been, and you got to be able to guard in that conference to find success.”

You may also like