OU Basketball: Oklahoma Excited for 'Beautiful' Opportunity to Challenge No. 2 South Carolina

The Sooners will head east to take on the reigning champions on Sunday afternoon.
Oklahoma 's Sahara Williams
Oklahoma 's Sahara Williams / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Oklahoma’s biggest test of the season is finally here. 

Jennie Baranczyk’s No. 13-ranked Sooners (15-3, 3-2 SEC) will meet No. 2 South Carolina (17-1, 5-0) on Sunday at 2 p.m. (ESPN) in a marquee conference matchup against the defending champions. 

It’s one of three SEC battles against teams in the top 10 after OU fell to Texas 80-73 on Jan. 2 and the Sooners are slated to take on No. 5 LSU on Jan. 30.

The Gamecocks dropped a game earlier this year to No. 1 UCLA, but have since carded double-digit victories over Texas and No. 10 TCU.

Five players are averaging nine points per game, and Dawn Staley’s juggernaut is every bit the matchup nightmare of her great teams that have dominated college basketball during her tenure. 

“This is also the difference of being in the SEC and not being in the SEC… You’re going to play the best team in the country,” Baranczyk said on Thursday. “The best program in the country. And I don’t care if there’s a number two (in the rankings), we all know, right? They’re a storied team. They’re a very deep team and you go see where you’re at. You go see where you’re at mentally. You go see where you’re at in terms of X’s and O’s. You see where you’re team’s at.”

Unfortunately, the Sooners may not be at full strength on Sunday. 

OU center Raegan Beers played against Missouri on Thursday after sustaining an injury last weekend against Texas A&M, but her contributions were limited to 10 minutes in the first half. 

Then Liz Scott, who plays for Beers off the bench, didn’t return after a nasty collision under the basket on Thursday that knocked out her contact and caused swelling on her face immediately after the game. 

If Beers is still limited and Scott can’t go, the lineup will look much more similar to the group OU rolled out all year last year, which isn’t a bad thing. 

That group caught fire in the second half against the Tigers, fueled by a career-best performance from Payton Verhulst

The Sooners took care of the ball much better in the second half on Thursday, but Verhulst said there will be other factors at play to see if they can roll that momentum into Sunday’s matchup. 

“I think mostly it’s going to be these next couple of practices that we have before we even get on the road to South Carolina,” Verhulst said. “I think that really the way that we practice and the way we show up in those days will really proves how we play in games. So I think that’s going to be really important for us.”

Much like the battle earlier this year against Texas, Verhulst believes there’s an element of both teams that’s similar and will allow for a fun contest. 

“I think they’re very similar to us where they’re deep and they have a lot of people scoring in double digits,” she said. “It’s not just one or two players. So I think it’ll be fun. It’ll be a good matchup for us and we’re just excited because we’re going to get better from this game.”

A fantastic showing or poor performance won’t make or break Oklahoma’s season either way, but Baranczyk is excited to take the floor against the nation’s best and see where her team is at as conference play presses on. 

“It doesn’t matter what little ranking’s in front of us either if we don’t go there and show up and give everything that we have,” Baranczyk said. “So the game is a beautiful game but it teaches us a lot of things. And so the scoreboard will tell the exact thing that needs to happen. 

“If we’re not ready that will show and if we’re ready it will show.”


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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is managing editor at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.