Oklahoma Shakes Off Sluggish Start to Roll Texas A&M in SEC Opener

Jennie Baranczyk's Sooners extended their winning streak to 12 games on Thursday night in College Station.

Oklahoma guard Aaliyah Chavez | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma shook off a slow start to start SEC play on the right foot and extend its winning streak to 12. 

The No. 8 Sooners turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, but cleaned things up in the second half to brush past Texas A&M 72-50 on Thursday night at Reed Arena in College Station. 

True freshman Aaliyah Chavez led the way for OU with 20 points, and star center Raegan Beers added 14 points and 12 rebounds to down the Aggies. 

Here are three takeaways from the Oklahoma victory:

Rough Start

The first half was a slog, but the Sooners were able to overcome their sloppy play to take an eight-point lead into halftime. 

Sahara Williams had four turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, and Chavez added a trio of miscues herself. 

As a team, OU (13-1, 1-0 SEC) lost the first half turnover battle 16-9, yet the Sooners still held a 10-8 advantage in points off turnovers. 

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Luckily for Oklahoma, Texas A&M tries to slow things down on offense, and the Aggies (7-3, 0-1) never really got out to run in transition and truly punish the OU mistakes. 

Whatever Jennie Baranczyk’s message about ball security was at halftime, she got a response from her team. 

The Sooners turned the ball over just once in the third quarter and five times total in the second half. 

Defensive Dominance 

Even with the sluggish offensive start, OU was never in danger of losing Thursday’s SEC bout due to its work on the defensive end of the floor. 

Oklahoma held Texas A&M to 26.3 percent shooting from the field.

OU really separated itself in the third quarter. 

The Aggies did make seven free throws, but the Sooners held Texas A&M to 0-for-10 shooting in the third quarter, which allowed OU to win the quarter 23-7 and extend its lead to 24 points headed into the fourth. 

Texas A&M was able to score 23 points in the fourth quarter and make its percentages look a bit better, but that success came after the game was well in hand.

Chavez in Command

Though it took everyone a few minutes to warm up after the lengthy Christmas layoff, Chavez looked right at home in her first SEC contest.

She set the pace for Oklahoma’s high-flying offense, and let it rip herself. 

Chavez hit 8-of-18 shots from the field, including 3-of-8 from deep, and finished with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. 

The strong showings from Chavez and Beers papered over uncharacteristically poor shooting nights from Payton Verhulst and Zya Vann. 

The talented duo combined to shoot 4-of-14 from the floor, though they still were their normal selves on the defensive end of the floor. 

Oklahoma will be back in action at the Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday when the Sooners host Mississippi State at 2 p.m.