Oklahoma is in a 'Good Space' Entering NCAA Tournament After Loss to Georgia

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s SEC Tournament didn’t go how anyone wanted.

The Sooners jumped out to a quick lead against Georgia last Thursday before surrendering 10 unanswered runs, but OU coach Patty Gasso doesn’t think that outing will seep over into the NCAA Tournament.

“I feel like we’re in a good space after Georgia,” Gasso said on Tuesday. “That was a really tough time for us. Not being used to that. But also, not making too big of it. Just learning from it, and I think we have done that. Our practices have been really solid as of late.”

The loss wasn’t a backbreaker for the Sooners.

Oklahoma earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and is hosting Kansas, Michigan and Binghamton in regional action this weekend at Love’s Field.

Should OU advance to next weekend, it will host a Super Regional for the right to return to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Instead, Gasso is hoping her team will look at the SEC Tournament experience as one final lesson before the real hunt for a national title begins.

“Compete. Compete on the mound, compete at the plate, compete on the field. Just don't look at the scoreboard. Just keep competing,” Gasso said.

Senior outfielder Abby Dayton said the group’s confidence hasn’t taken a hit after the loss to the Bulldogs despite everyone’s disappointment in how the game unfolded.

“Yeah, the SEC Tournament happened,” Dayton said. “… It’s like, we won (the) regular season. That’s such a big accomplishment for every single person on this team. So to be able to go in with that … have the things that we need to work on, I’m excited.”

Oklahoma opens the Norman Regional on Friday at 2:30 p.m. (SEC Network) against Love’s Field. The winner of that contest will advance to play the winner between Kansas and Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Gasso believes her team will enter the contest with the right mindset, but as long as everyone is working to be on the same page, good performances will follow.

“Play hard, play to win, but you got to do it together. You can't do it in segments or individuals,” she said.

“We've got to have a team behind that mission. And those are things I think we are figuring out, figured out, and we'll see it look different.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google