Oklahoma's Season Ends in Sweet 16 With Loss to South Carolina

The Sooners were unable to take down the Gamecocks to advance in March Madness on Saturday.

Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk looks on during the Sooners' Sweet 16 contest with South Carolina. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

For the second straight year, Oklahoma’s season ended in the Sweet 16.

South Carolina exacted revenge over the Sooners, brushing OU aside 94-68 on Saturday at Golden1 Center in Sacramento. 

The Gamecocks made five 3’s all night in their loss to Oklahoma back in January. South Carolina connected seven times from deep in the first half alone on Saturday, and the Sooners simply couldn’t keep up. 

OU turned the ball over eight times in the first 20 minutes, and South Carolina opened the game on a 10-0 run and never looked back. 

The 4-seeded Sooners made the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2010-2011, but the Oklahoma careers of Raegan Beers, Payton Verhulst and Beatrice Culliton came to an end with the loss. 

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s contest:

Final Box Score | NCAA Stats

OU Forgets Beers

Oklahoma center Raegan Beers played her final collegiate game against South Carolina. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Oklahoma’s strategy early was puzzling. 

South Carolina struggled to stop Beers in the regular-season matchup, but it was OU that took its All-American center out of the game early. 

The Sooners were unable to get Beers a paint touch on the first four trips down the floor, settling for tough shots instead of funneling the ball down to their veteran star early. 

As a result, South Carolina sprinted to a quick lead, while Oklahoma’s offense got stuck in the mud. 

Beers was subbed out less than three minutes into the game, and though Jennie Baranczyk’s team did a better job of getting her involved after she returned, OU was focusing all of its energy on digging out of a hole. 

By halftime, Beers was second on the team with six points, but her six attempts from the field were half of the 12 shots Aaliyah Chavez took, one less than Payton Verhulst’s seven field goal attempts and tied with Sahara Williams. 

Beers stayed out of foul trouble, but her own teammates took out of the game nonetheless. 

Defense Optional 

Raven Johnson sliced through Oklahoma's defense in Sacramento. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

No matter how things shook out for Oklahoma on the offensive end of the floor, the Sooners’ defense was never going to give them a chance against top-seeded South Carolina. 

The Gamecocks shot 51 percent from the field and knocked down 10-of-14 attempts from deep. 

Closeouts to 3-point shooters were often late, and Oklahoma struggled to stay in front of Ta’Niya Latson and Raven Johnson. 

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Latson led all scorers with 28 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and she knocked down all four of her attempts from deep. Johnson added 18 points, and the duo outscored the Sooners 34-28 by themselves in the first half. 

South Carolina’s 3-point shooting left the Sooners little margin for error. 

Still, OU lost the turnover battle 15-11 and the Gamecocks were a plus-14 in points off of turnovers. 

Passed the Torch

Oklahoma freshman Aaliyah Chavez elevates to shoot against South Carolina. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Beers and Verhulst helped take the program back to the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2013, but the keys to the OU program now belong to Chavez. 

Beers finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and an assist in her final collegiate game, and Verhulst added 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting with three rebounds and an assist. 

Chavez paced OU with 21 points in her Sweet 16 debut, and she’ll be joined by veteran forward Sahara Williams, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds, as well as guard Zya Vann. 

The Sooners finished the season 26-8 overall.