No. 10 Oklahoma Overcomes Slow Start in Win Over Florida

NORMAN — The first 20-plus minutes of Thursday’s game between No. 10 Oklahoma and Florida were ugly for the Sooners.

But that didn’t stop OU from finding a way.

The Sooners rallied late to defeat the Gators 81-74. OU’s win breaks a two-game slide, as the Sooners dropped back-to-back games against Vanderbilt and Texas.

OU improved to 18-6 overall and 6-5 in SEC play with the win, while Florida fell to 15-12 and 3-9.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

OU responds after sluggish first half

OU started the game on an 8-2 run, but the Sooners couldn’t maintain a rhythm for the remainder of the first half.

The Sooners went to the locker room shooting 28 percent from the field and 11 percent (1-of-9) on 3-pointers. Star freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez scored only two points in the first 20 minutes and shot 0-of-7 from the floor.

OU center Raegan Beers drew two fouls in the game’s first four minutes, and as a result, coach Jennie Baranczyk kept her out for the rest of the half. Because of that, the Sooners struggled to find easy baskets inside.

Thankfully for OU, Florida turned the ball over 17 times, and the Sooners scored 16 points off of those miscues. As a result, Oklahoma only trailed 37-26 at halftime in a game that felt like it could have been even more lopsided.

The Sooners, though, woke up after halftime.

OU cut the deficit to only three points at the end of the third quarter, and the Sooners took their first lead since the opening minutes with over five minutes remaining.

Oklahoma outscored Florida 55-37 in the final 20 minutes to earn its seven-point win. The Sooners shot 70 percent from the field and 63 percent from deep in the second half after struggling mightily early in the game.

Sophomore guard leads offense in winning effort

Zya Vann helped get the Sooners out of their early rut.

Vann, a sophomore guard, led Oklahoma with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. She also made four of her five attempts from deep.

Of Vann’s 18 points, she scored 13 of them in the second half. Vann also finished the game with three assists and two rebounds.

"I think that was big for Zya to be able to come into that second half and really shift from one half into the next," OU coach Jennie Baranczyk said.

After a five-point first half, Vann said she sought "peace." She said that her faith — as well as support from her teammates — allowed her to find it.

"In order for me to do that, I was just praying a lot," Vann said. "Also my teammates and Jennie… I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them."

Vann entered Thursday's game averaging 10.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest.

Losing streak snapped

Oklahoma entered Thursday’s game in dire need of a win after back-to-back losses against Texas and Vanderbilt.

Though it wasn’t pretty for much of the game, the Sooners found a way to come out victorious against the Gators.

OU, ranked No. 11 in the NET rankings, is battling for a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament. Teams seeded No. 1 through No. 16 get to host the first two rounds of the tourney on their campuses.

Next, Oklahoma will battle Alabama on the road Sunday before taking on Georgia a few days later.