Oklahoma Overpowers Texas A&M to Extend Winning Streak to Three

NORMAN — Oklahoma completed its regular-season sweep of Texas A&M on Thursday night.

The No. 10 Sooners knocked the Aggies out early, notching an 85-58 victory at the Lloyd Noble Center.

“I do feel like we shared the ball well. I thought we had good balance,” OU coach Jennie Baranczyk said after the win. “I thought we played good team basketball.”

OU improved to 17-4 on the year and 5-3 in conference play with the win, while Texas A&M fell to 8-9 overall and 1-7 in SEC contests

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Second Quarter Dominance

Oklahoma put the game out of reach in the second period.

OU forced nine turnovers to fuel a 19-0 run, holding the Aggies to just one field goal in the first eight minutes of the quarter.

Raegan Beers, Payton Verhulst and Cya Smith all finished the period with a steal, allowing the Sooners to get out and put up easy points in transition.

Aaliyah Chavez attacked the paint with ease before halftime, getting to the free throw line four times in the second quarter alone, and Verhulst hit a 3 after getting fouled to complete a four-point play to put the cherry on top of her seven second-quarter points.

It marked the second time this season that the Sooners completely played the Aggies off the floor in an entire quarter.

In the conference opener earlier this month, OU held the Aggies to 0-of-10 shooting from the floor in the third quarter.

Culliton Returns

Beatrice Culliton’s near-three-week absence from the lineup ended on Thursday night.

The senior center checked into the game with 8:49 left in the second quarter to a nice ovation from the Lloyd Noble Center crowd, though she still has a wrap on the right wrist that has kept her out of the lineup.

In Culliton’s absence, freshman Brooklyn Stewart has developed and contributed key minutes, but the Sooners need another body down low — especially as Beers has battled foul trouble numerous times in SEC play.

“She came back a little faster than we thought,” Baranczyk said. “… Just her joy of playing and giving up a little bit more depth in that position I thought was awesome.”

Before the injury, Culliton was averaging 11.3 minutes per game, where she added 1.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest.

Beers stayed out of foul trouble on Thursday night, but OU will be happy to be back to full strength ahead of Sunday’s top 10 tilt.

Damage From Deep

Oklahoma’s excellent efforts on the defensive end of the floor paired nicely with 3-point sharpshooting on the other end.

The Sooners knocked down 12 3’s, which was the third-most all season after OU hit 13 against Florida State on Nov. 11 and 14 against North Carolina Central on Dec. 22.

It was a team effort, too.

Chavez hit two of her five attempts from beyond the arc, Verhulst went 5-for-7 from deep and Sahara Williams and Smith both hit multiple 3-balls.

The Sooners can now turn their attention to the Red River Rivalry.

Oklahoma travels south to take on No. 4 Texas at 2 p.m. on Sunday in a matchup that will be broadcast on ABC.

Second Quarter Dominance

Read More Oklahoma Sooners

Culliton Returns

Damage From Deep