OU Basketball: Oklahoma's Seniors Hoping to 'Enjoy the Moment' in Final Home Game

NORMAN — Monday afternoon will bring an air of finality for Oklahoma’s seniors, no matter how well things turn out against Iowa.

The Second Round matchup between the 3-seeded Sooners and 6-seeded Hawkeyes will be the final game played at the Lloyd Noble Center, regardless of who advances to the Sweet 16.

“I told myself even before the game started in the locker room,” OU forward Skylar Vann said after Saturday’s win over Florida Gulf Coast. “I was like just play with joy, have fun. I was like this could have been my last game in my college career.”

Vann, Lexy Keys, Nevaeh Tot, Liz Scott and Aubrey Joens will all take part in the final home game of their careers when the ball tips at 3 p.m. on Monday, something the group has been grappling with all weekend.

“That set in for me the first game of March Madness,” Scott told Sooners on SI on Sunday. “Just give it our all. We don’t want this to be our last game and everyone has that mindset. I feel everyone’s playing for the seniors and knowing it potentially could be our last game. So like I said, just having that mindset of playing hard and giving it all you’ve got.”

Vann, Scott and Tot have spent their entire careers in Norman, helping the Sooners reach the Second Round for four straight years.

A win against the Hawkeyes fire Oklahoma into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, and while all of OU’s efforts will be focused on getting back there, there have still been moments to reflect for the seniors.

“I would say it has set in,” Tot said. “It’s more bittersweet because I’ve been here for five years. I’m grateful for the time I’ve gotten to play, but it’s a little scary. I’m a littler nervous because I haven’t been in the real world just yet, but I’m excited for what’s to come. But I’m excited to be here and just keep playing basketball.”

For Vann, she certainly made the most of her penultimate game inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

She scored a season-high 24 points against Florida Gulf Coast, added nine rebounds and four assists. Perhaps the most notable contribution was the edge she brought to Oklahoma — something that helped carry the Sooners through shooting struggles at the end of both the second and third quarters against the Eagles.

“Skylar has been working like that all year,” center Raegan Beers said. “So it was so cool to see what I see in practice every single day when it comes to Skylar… To be able to see that and see that confidence and see her be able to knock down shots.

“… She kicks butt every single day. And so to see her have that confidence come out is so cool to see and really what we needed yesterday to pull out that win when there were frustrations going around… Can’t wait to see it again tomorrow.”

Vann, last year’s Big 12 Co-Player of the Year, hasn’t had as many scoring outbursts this year with the addition of Beers.

She admitted that it’s been hard at times to reform her role with the team, but it hasn’t taken away from how she’ll look back on her last season in college.

“I guess it's a little frustrating, but also when you have a team with so much depth and talent, it's going to be anybody's game at any time,” Vann said on Saturday. “I’m just lucky and blessed to have the teammates that I've had around me.

“This has been one of my favorite years, which is hard to believe, but it really has just how we've connected and how hard we've worked this year to get to this point, it's been my favorite year in college basketball.”

With so much on the line, the Sooners are still trying to approach Monday’s contest with the same mindset as every other game this year, even as the stakes continue to get raised.

“I’m trying to enjoy every moment,” Keys said. “Not take any moment for granted and really just live in the present.”