How the Sooners Returned to Playing 'Oklahoma Basketball' in NCAA Tournament Opener

NORMAN — The Sooners found their joy on Friday night.

There were plenty of smiles around the Lloyd Noble Center as 4-seed Oklahoma kicked off its NCAA Tournament run with an emphatic victory over 13-seed Idaho.

Junior forward Sahara Williams set the tone with ear-to-ear grins, skips across the floor and love for her teammates, an energy that’s not always easy to bring every single day during the grind of SEC play.

“I think the SEC made us a little bit tougher than maybe we were,” OU coach Jennie Baranczyk said after Friday’s win. “… It's hard. Every day is hard. You’ve got to find the sunshine even on the days it's real cloudy.”

The Sooners are a win away from returning to the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2010-2011, and there’s been no shortage of sunshine at the Lloyd Noble Center to start the weekend.

“It's March. You kind of really don't have a choice but to have joy,” Williams said.

“This is the best time of the year. You've worked honestly nine out of the 12 months for this moment. Especially doing it with this team has been so much fun.”

Oklahoma Sooners, Sahara Williams — Oklahoma forward Sahara Williams drives against Idaho in the NCAA Tournament. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

The team is in a good headspace, and while the finality of the season hits every team taking part in the NCAA Tournament, the journey of the year is what has prepared the Sooners for a run in March Madness.

“Everybody knows March Madness, and there's this magic in the air that you just have to go play,” Baranczyk said. “So I don't think it's easier (in March). I think it's more of, ‘Oh, this is real now.’ You know, win or go home. So you have that kind of motivation, but then also, you're a product of what you've done the whole year.

“You forget that some of those rainy days are part of your journey, and that's actually how you build resilience and grit, right?”

When things go poorly throughout a game in conference play, the Sooners devised a strategy to try to get back on track.

Senior Beatrice Culliton has a trash can on the bench where teammates can write down a negative thought and physically throw it away.

She became the keeper of the trash can when she was out of the rotation with an injury.

“I think it kind of shows our passion. Sometimes you just passionately need to toss something, and that’s what the basket was for,” Culliton said. “… We’ve always kind of talked about throwing it out of your mind. … (And) one day there was a bucket.”

Oklahoma Sooners, Raegan Beers — Oklahoma center Raegan Beers celebrates after a made 3-pointer against Idaho in the NCAA Tournament. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Baranczyk hopes the resilience built in January and February, especially for the younger pieces of the team, will show against Michigan State on Sunday and beyond.

“The SEC, it will make a woman out of you. It can play tricks on you, and you've got to show up, and you've got to work, and you've got to be able to reset quickly,” Baranczyk said.

“… So for us, to just reset from one possession to the next possession is really important. And also, you want to make it less about whether or not I control that as a coach, because I don't control that as a coach. They do as a team. So that's for them to be able to manage how do you leave some things on the bench, how do you leave some things off the floor, so when we are on the floor, we can keep it all about team. … Everything we have about the team needs to be on.”

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The Sooners have a chance to advance back to the Sweet 16 on Sunday at 7 p.m., and senior Payton Verhulst hopes the showing will be a continuation of Friday’s performance.

“When we have fun, we're so good,” Verhulst said. “Obviously, seeing last night how everybody was able to get involved, everybody was able to get different looks, easy looks. I think that's something when we do that, we're really good.

“Even if we give up a good shot to get a great shot, I think you saw that a lot last night and something obviously we're going to bring tomorrow and something that's really Oklahoma basketball.”

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