South Carolina women's basketball: All about the Oklahoma Sooners
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On July 1 Oklahoma and Texas officially joined the SEC. Get to know South Carolina’s newest conference rivals, beginning with the Sooners.
Oklahoma Sooners
Head Coach: Jennie Baranczyk (4th season)
2023-24 Record: 22-9 (Big 12 regular Season Champions, NCAA Tournament second round)
Historic Accomplishments
Oklahoma has made the Final Four three times (2002, 2009, and 2010) and was the runner-up in 2002, losing to UConn. … Oklahoma won the Big 8 regular season title in the mid-1980s and won the Big 12 eight times. The Sooners also claimed four Big 12 Tournament titles. … Oklahoma actually dropped the program for about a week in 1990.
Notable Players
Courtney Paris was a four-time first-team All-American and almost certainly the best player in program history. Her streak of 112 consecutive double-doubles will probably never be matched. Paris averaged 19.9 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks. … Danielle Robinson helped the Sooners make the Final Four in Paris’ senior season and then led them back the following year. She was a two-time All-American and went on to play 12 seasons in the WNBA. … Stacey Dales was a first-team All-American in 2001 and 2002. She averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. Dales was the third overall pick in the WNBA Draft and made the All-Star game as a rookie. She played five seasons before retiring and is currently a reporter for the NFL Network.
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Recent History
Sherri Coale led the Sooners from 1996 to 2021. Although she could never repeat her success from 2000-2010, Coale led the Sooners to 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. The streak ended in 2019, which was also Oklahoma’s first losing season in 20 years. Coale retired following the 2021 season and was replaced by Baranczyk. Baranczyk installed a fast-paced, three-point-oriented offense and immediately doubled Oklahoma’s win total. The Sooners have won back-to-back regular season Big 12 titles.
Key Players
Raegan Beers, the former Oregon State All-American, transferred to Oklahoma in the offseason. She gives the Sooners a low-post presence they have lacked, but it remains to be seen how she will fit into their uptempo style. … Super senior Skylar Vann was the Big 12 Co-Player of the Year last season when she averaged 15.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. As a sophomore and junior, Vann was the Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year. … Guard Payton Verhulst averaged 12.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists last season.
Series with South Carolina
Oklahoma leads 3-0. Last meeting: Oklahoma 75, South Carolina 67; November 26, 2009 (Paradise Jam, Virgin Islands)
Other ties to South Carolina
Baranczyk previously coached at Drake. In 2018, she led the Bulldogs to a 90-85 overtime win over the Gamecocks in a tournament in Vancouver. … Ashley Bruner, one of the building blocks from the early Staley Era, is from Norman, OK. South Carolina was able to sign Bruner after Oklahoma didn’t recruit her.
What to look forward to
Baranczyk is one of the country’s brightest young coaches and her teams play an entertaining style of basketball. She won at Drake and again at Oklahoma, and now she is starting to lure more talented players to Norman.
What to look forward to (Petty version)
Baranczyk played for Lisa Bluder at Iowa, so in a very distant way beating Oklahoma could be continued revenge for the 2023 Final Four. Other than that, there aren’t really enough historical connections to create much of an immediate rivalry.
