No. 13 Oklahoma Falls to No. 6 LSU, Drops Third SEC Contest in a Row

NORMAN — Last week’s wobble has officially turned into a losing streak for Oklahoma.

The Sooners were unable to hang with LSU in front of a sellout crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday as they dropped their third-straight SEC contest.

No. 13 OU struggled to contain LSU star Flau’jae Johnson, as she poured in 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the No. 6 Tigers in LSU’s 91-72 victory.

Sunday’s loss marks the first time Jennie Baranczyk’s Sooners have dropped three straight games since OU fell to UNLV, North Carolina and Southern from Dec. 9-Dec. 22 of 2023.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ (14-4, 2-3 SEC) loss to LSU (17-2, 3-2).

Fast Start Fizzles

Oklahoma couldn’t have drawn up a much better start to Sunday’s battle.

An OU block turned into an Aaliyah Chavez 3, and the offense flowed early.

Payton Verhulst and Sahara Williams also canned shots from beyond the arc to help the Sooners build an 11-2 lead.

But the Tigers roared back.

Midway through the first quarter, LSU had already tied the game with a quick burst of its own, and the visitors closed the first quarter on a 20-3 run by holding the Sooners without a made field goal attempt for the final three minutes of the quarter.

"I’m just really disappointed," Baranczyk said. "I loved the way we started. I really thought that was good. And honestly, we have to respond better."

Turnovers weren’t the cause of Oklahoma’s issues early, either.

LSU won the first quarter turnover battle 4-3, but the Tigers held the Sooners to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor in the first quarter, forcing the Sooners to battle back from behind for the rest of the afternoon.

OU’s three-minute drought at the end of the first quarter was only surpassed by its four-minute field goal drought at the end of the third quarter that allowed the Tigers to take an 18-point lead into the final stanza.

LSU also won the rebounding battle 48-38, which was another factor that loomed large early.

"In order to respond better, you’ve got to rebound the ball, and you can’t foul," Baranczyk said. "So your offense is going to be a lot better if you rebound and you don’t foul."

Beers Put on Ice

LSU was able to build its lead in the first half with Oklahoma center Raegan Beers on the bench.

The All-American was whistled for her second personal foul with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter and the Sooners up 16-13.

She was left on the bench until 1:52 was left on the clock in the second quarter, but by then, the game had turned.

"We’ve got to find different ways to manufacture some paint points when Raegan’s not in,
Baranczyk said. "And there’s nothing you can do in this league if we cannot rebound the ball."

Baranczyk said she did consider risking a third foul and putting Beers back into the game, but ultimately a good stretch of play from true freshman Brooklyn Stewart led to her protecting Beers.

"I did (consider it)," Baranczyk said. "There were multiple times, and sometimes you just have to judge how they are officiating the game. … We needed her in the second half and I knew that and so hindsight is 20/20."

The Tigers outscored the Sooners 29-15 from the time Beers had to head to the bench with her second foul until she returned.

She was limited to just eight minutes of action in the first half, but still put up eight points and pulled down five rebounds.

When Beers did return in the second half, the offense struggled to find her at times as OU tried to catch fire from deep to get back into the game.

"It’s hard to pass to her on the bench," Baranczyk said. "We needed her to play more.

"… But it’s also us finding her a little bit more. I mean, there’s times she’s yelling for it and we needed to get it to her a lot faster."

LSU Contains Chavez

Though Oklahoma got a nice afternoon from Payton Verhulst and a surprising nine-point first-half burst from freshman Brooklyn Stewart, the Sooners couldn’t generate enough offense to stay in the game without a big day from Chavez.

The opening bucket of the game was the only 3-pointer Chavez hit until the 5:28 mark in the fourth quarter. While the freshman star struggled from deep, LSU had the athleticism to limit her scoring in the paint.

Rarely was Chavez able to create space for herself inside the arc, whether she was knifed to the basket to attempt a wraparound layup or if she tried to hit a stepback at the elbow.

Verhulst finished with 21 points and Beers totaled 10 points and 11 rebounds, but neither effort was enough to fend off the Tigers.

Chavez ended with 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field, and she also added three rebounds and two assists.

The Sooners have another massive contest at the Lloyd Noble Center on Thursday night.

Oklahoma hosts No. 2 South Carolina at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN.

Fast Start Fizzles

Beers Put on Ice

Read More Oklahoma Sooners

LSU Contains Chavez