OU Basketball: Oklahoma Has 'No Fear' in Search of First Sweet 16 Bid Since 2013

NORMAN — The Sooners have been close to a breakthrough under Jennie Baranczyk.

In her first year, Oklahoma hosted an NCAA Regional, falling to Notre Dame in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

The last two seasons, OU has hit the road and lost again in the Round of 32 to UCLA and Indiana.

But last year’s defeat in Bloomington, IN, a 75-68 contest against the Indiana Hoosiers, didn’t mark the end for the team’s growth cycle.

Baranczyk returned 98 percent of the team’s production, and then hit the transfer portal to add star center Raegan Beers from Oregon State.

“We knew that we were returning so much, right, in terms of minutes and production and we also knew that we wanted to continue to get better,” Baranczyk said during Media Day at the Lloyd Noble Center on Friday. “… You could tell that the story wasn't over and that there was more to it.”

This year, the Sooners moved to the Southeastern Conference and took their lumps early.

OU lost contests against Texas and South Carolina, who both earned 1-seeds in the NCAA Tournament, as well as battles with LSU, Kentucky and Mississippi State.

Oklahoma enters the Big Dance 25-7 after finishing 11-5 in SEC play, but now the Sooners are ready for the moment.

Baranczyk’s team grew from the grueling first half of the schedule. They entered the SEC Tournament on a seven-game winning streak. They avenged their regular season loss to Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, and played South Carolina much closer than the regular season disaster in Columbia.

All those lessons have Oklahoma well positioned as favorites to return to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.

“I think this is the best time to catch fire and I feel like that’s what we’re doing,” OU senior Skylar Vann told Sooners on SI. “We’re headed in the right direction as of now and I think that is the most important part is how do you end you’re conference tournament going into March Madness. And as of right now I like where we’re headed.”

From OU’s regular season loss to Kentucky through now, Baranczyk said the team had a number of tough conversations about what who they want to be and what it will take to take the program to the next level.

Now’s the time to put that work to the test.

“You can see us continuing to grow… and I think what's really going to come to fruition here is to see the lessons that we actually did learn and a lot of the firsts this year,” Baranczyk said. “You're in the SEC. We fall on our face a lot. Had to get up, had to keep going. We're not afraid of it. We're not afraid to continue to grow… We're not afraid to lose a close game last year like we did in the NCAA Tournament and like we did the year before too.

“We have no fear. We're playing with a kind of joy. It goes back to the senior class, which has to go back to the year before. So the way that that group has continued to lead, there's a different type of depth to this team.”

Part of the adjustment process in the SEC was having to be locked in every night and having to find ways to win even if the Sooners didn’t play their best.

The do-or-die stakes of March are now a familiar feeling.

“This league has absolutely prepared us for big moments and it’s prepared us to honestly stay in the present,” OU senior Lexy Keys said. “… This league has instilled that in us. Top to bottom this league is so hard and it’s challenging and it’s competitive and it can be anyone’s night. So I think that’s prepared us for today, just being able to take every game and be competitive in it and learn from it and grow within it.”

Up first, Oklahoma will have a rematch of its First Round matchup from a year ago.

The 3-seeded Sooners will take on 14-seeded Florida Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in Norman.

A win there would earn OU the right to meet either 6-seeded Iowa or 11-seeded Murray State for a spot in the Sweet 16.

“I’m excited,” OU sophomore forward Sahara Williams said. “I think we’ve prepared well and we have a very experienced team… I think you’re never really ready until the moment gets here and you just do what you’re supposed to do. You take advantage of all the opportunities.

“So I’m just excited to see what this team will do.”