Oklahoma Gets Blown Out by LSU to End SEC Tournament Run

Oklahoma turned in one of its worst shooting performances of the season Friday, falling to LSU, 112-78, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Greenville, SC.

The loss snapped the Sooners’ seven-game winning streak.

Oklahoma (24-7) will now await their NCAA Tournament fate on March 15 while LSU will take on top-seeded and third-ranked South Carolina in an SEC semifinal Saturday.

The Tigers led virtually the entire game, but despite stretching the lead several times, couldn’t shake the Sooners — until late in the third quarter.

LSU finished the third on a 19-3 run to take a 23-point lead and put the game away for all intents and purposes.

Oklahoma missed seven of its last eight shots in the quarter.

The Sooners rebounded a bit shooting-wise in the fourth to avoid posting their worst shooting performance of the season but still allowed 40 Tigers points in the quarter.

Oklahoma finished 36.1% from the field and 5-of-21 (23.8%) from beyond the arc.

LSU’s 112 points were the most given up by the Sooners since a 124-78 loss at Utah on Nov. 16, 2022.

"Well, we can guard a lot better," Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said of the lessons her team learned during the SEC Tournament. "Obviously LSU's so good, they're so talented and have so many weapons and rebounded the ball so well. This is March basketball and we got a really nice taste of it and so we get two weeks that we can go home and we can get better and that's what we'll focus on doing."

LSU got off to a hot start, hitting its first five shots to help the Tigers take a 12-3 lead less than two minutes into the game.

But Oklahoma settled in after that, with a 10-2 run to pull within one before the Tigers once again stretched their lead to nine, 28-19, after one.

The Sooners started the second quarter with an 11-4 run, pulling to 32-30 on Aaliyah Chavez’s jumper midway through the quarter.

But LSU dominated the rest of the half.

Mikaylah Williams quickly answered Chavez’s shot with a 3-pointer on the other end to ignite a 13-3 run to end the second.

The Sooners were just 1 of 8 from the field to end the half.

Chavez finished with 20 points but was just 6 of 16 from the field, while Sahara Williams added 19.

Here are three more takeaways from the Sooners' loss:

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

Raegan Beers Struggles With Foul Trouble

For the second consecutive game, Raegan Beers struggled with foul trouble.

In Thursday’s win over Florida, the Sooners were able to overcome that until Beers returned after halftime and put up big numbers.

They couldn’t do that against LSU, though.

Beers picked up her second foul less than two minutes into the second quarter and went to the bench for the final 7:33 of the half.

OU was just 2 of 14 from the field during the stretch with Beers on the bench.

Beers picked up her third foul less than 90 seconds into the second half, but with the game threatening to get out of hand, Jennie Baranczyk couldn’t afford to sit Beers immediately.

Beers fouled out with 4:18 remaining in the game, finishing with a season-low six points and eight rebounds.

Aaliyah Chavez Breaks OU Record

Oklahoma freshman Aaliyah Chavez has been just about automatic on the free-throw line this season.

Friday, she accomplished something no other Sooner has.

Less than six minutes into the game, Chavez hit a pair of free throws to tie and break Taylor Robertson’s school record of 59 consecutive free throws.

Chavez hasn’t missed from the line since Jan. 22 against South Carolina.

She finished 6 for 6 Friday to move within 13 of tying North Dakota State’s Michelle Gaislerova’s NCAA record of 75 consecutive free-throw makes.

Chavez is shooting 93.9% from the line this season, which would set an NCAA freshman record.

Up Next: Seeding Saturday, Selection Sunday

Now, Oklahoma must wait to learn their NCAA Tournament seed.

As of Friday morning, the Sooners were a three seed in the Region 4, Sacramento region according to ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme.

Though a win could’ve put Oklahoma in a better position to wind up in one of the two Fort Worth regionals and remain close to home, its place doesn’t figure to be affected negatively by the loss.

Three of the No. 4 seeds in Creme’s bracket have already been eliminated from their conference tournament with the only one that wasn’t beating another of those No. 4 seeds.

Maryland was upset by Oregon in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, while Kentucky was blown out by South Carolina earlier Friday in Greenville.

The other two No. 4 seeds in Creme’s bracket — Ohio State and Minnesota — played in a Big Ten quarterfinal game Friday with the Buckeyes winning, 60-55.

Unlike in previous years, when the bracket and seeding were announced at the same time, the top 16 seeds will be released in alphabetical order on Saturday, March 14, the day before the full bracket is revealed.

Oklahoma figures to be hosting the first two rounds of the tournament beginning either March 20 or 21.