Raegan Beers Powers No. 6 Oklahoma Past Belmont in Season Opener

NORMAN — Oklahoma got tested right out of the gate.

The Belmont Bruins pushed the No. 6 Sooners on opening day, taking a lead late in the third quarter, but Jennie Baranczyk’s team put the clamps on late.

OU held Belmont scoreless for nearly three minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter to fuel a run that put the Sooners back on top.

Oklahoma’s strong finish saw it notch an 84-67 win to move to 1-0.

“Jennie talked about winning every minute, winning every possession, and I thought in that fourth quarter we really locked in,” forward Sahara Williams said after the win. “… I thought we just capitalized on every possession. We stopped checking the scoreboard. If you take the scoreboard out of it and you just check off one possession at a time, the scoreboard will tell itself.”

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Beers Starts Hot

Oklahoma Sooners, Raegan Beers — Oklahoma center Raegan Beers | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

Oklahoma’s dominant center wasted no time getting her season rolling.

She led all scorers with 29 points on 13-of-17 shooting as the Bruins had no answer down low.

As soon as she established position, OU’s guards fed Beers and she powered through double teams in the restricted area.

“I thought there were some things that she did a great job,” Baranczyk said. “We still have to find more creative ways to get it to her.”

She also added 10 rebounds, and the only place on the floor she didn’t excel was at the free throw line, where she shot 2-for-6.

Beers entered the season shooting 68.5 percent from the stripe for her career, but she’ll have to rebound in the Sooners’ next outing against No. 3 UCLA.

Push the Pace

Oklahoma Sooners, Aaliyah Chavez — Oklahoma guard Aaliyah Chavez | Carson Field / Sooners on SI

Baranczyk’s teams like to run.

With Aaliyah Chavez in the lineup, Oklahoma found another gear in transition.

The feel for the game and ball skills that contributed to her No. 1-overall recruiting ranking were on full display early, even if every shot she put up in transition didn’t fall.

OU scored 19 points in transition and applied plenty of pressure on the Bruins.

“We have such high expectations, and she’s just got to be able to play,” Baranczyk said of Chavez’s debut. “I thought she came out and she was going… I think the biggest thing is making sure we’re still playing together. I think in the second half, especially that fourth quarter… you got to see her come alive.

“… She had some really good rotations defensively. So when she does that, we’re going to continue to get better.”

Chavez finished with 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting and both Payton Verhulst and Williams finished with 11 points.

Take What’s Free

Oklahoma Sooners, Sahara Williams — Oklahoma forward Sahara Williams | Carson Field / Sooners on SI

Belmont’s sharpshooting kept the Bruins in the game early, but it was OU’s inability to make free throws that kept the Sooners from putting away the game in the third quarter.

As a team, Oklahoma knocked down 15-of-30 attempts from the line.

Freshman Brooklyn Stewart went 3-for-6 from the line, and classmate Keziah Lofton missed both her attempts from the line. Senior Beatrice Culliton also went 0-for-2, but thankfully, the Sooners were able to press their advantage under the basket.

The Bruins made seven more 3’s than Oklahoma, but OU outscored Belmont 54-18 in the paint.

Oklahoma will have to shoot much better as a group to knock off UCLA on Nov. 10.