Three Takeaways From No. 6 Oklahoma's Win Over Kansas City

NORMAN — It wasn’t always pretty, but the sixth-ranked Oklahoma women’s basketball team bounced back from their first loss of the season, beating Kansas City 89-61 at Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday.

The Sooners trailed early in the second quarter, struggling to avoid turnovers, before finishing the quarter on a 23-7 run to take control.

Jennie Baranczyk’s team turned the ball over eight times in an uneven first quarter, helping the Roos stay in the game despite OU’s 8-of-11 shooting start.

The Sooners were coming off a 73-59 Monday loss to No. 3 UCLA in Sacramento, California.

Aaliyah Chavez scored 29 points to lead OU, while Payton Verhulst added 13, Sahara Williams 12 and Brooklyn Stewart 11.

The Sooners shot 55.4% from the field and were 10 of 19 from beyond the arc.

Elauni Bennett led Kansas City (1-2) with 19 points, 12 in the first quarter.

The Sooners (2-1) return to action against North Alabama at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the annual field trip game at Lloyd Noble Center.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win over the Roos:

Aaliyah Chavez Starts off Hot, Keeps Rolling

Monday’s loss was a learning experience for Chavez, who was 4 for 16 from the field against the Bruins.

But the freshman phenom wasted no time getting going against the overmatched Roos.

Chavez hit a 3-pointer in the game’s opening seconds and hit her first three shots as the Sooners hit 8 of 9 from the field over the first five minutes.

"Oh, it finally went in, it's time to play basketball now," Chavez said. "I think not just me shooting but my teammates were making great passes and making sure I was getting wide open."

Chavez finished 9 of 13 from the floor with seven 3-pointers and four assists.

In her first two games, Chavez was a combined 9 of 34 from the field.

"I just don't think she's been playing so terrible, the ball just necessarily hasn't gone in," Baranczyk said. "... It's a learning experience but of course when the ball goes in it feels good.

"Especially when the first one goes in it starrts to feel good and I think you can see her relax and us play and I think that really allowed some Oklahoma basketball possessions tonight."

Chavez is still adjusting to the collegiate game after a dominant high school career.

"I think just the physicality," she said. "They're a lot stronger, they've been playing basketball for a long time, so that'd be the main thing. But I feel like, me and Jennie talked about it, just getting off of my two feet when I'm going to the basket, and I feel like I did that a lot today just making sure I was in control and making the right play for OU basketball. ... It's not just me getting the shots."

Sooners Start to Learn Lessons from Loss

Asked what the short-term lessons were from the loss to UCLA, Baranczyk took a long pause.

"I don't know yet," Baranczyk said. "I was really hoping that we would come out and just rebound the ball better tonight anf we didn't necessarily do that."

OU outrebounded Kansas City 37-31.

But there were some improvements, even if the opponent wasn't at the same level as the Bruins.

"We've got to guard team ball better," Baranczyk said. "We left each other on islands in some actions against UCLA. I thought we recovered better here. ... I think we were able to make more in-game adjustments. When you're playing a team like UCLA that has such a dominant center in Lauren Betts, and people do this against us with Raegan (Beers), they game plan. You throw a lot of different adjustments in that you have to practice and to do that with a young team,. that was a little bit harder than maybe I anticipated."

Turnovers have been a steady problem for Oklahoma during Baranczyk’s tenure, though part of that is attributable to her free-flowing style that can lead to giveaways while creating much more positives on the offensive end on balance.

But the low turnover numbers were one of the bright spots in Monday’s loss, as OU turned the ball over just nine times — their lowest total since the 2023-24 season.

The issue came back after a hot start by the Sooners, though, as they had eight first-quarter turnovers and ultimately finished with 15 — leading to 18 Roos’ points.

"I think we were forcing the ball but I also thought we were really bad receivers," Baranczyk said. "We've got to value the ball a lot more. We can't just ... .if it's not the perfect pass, who cares? Go get it. And we need to be better at covering for each other in those moments. That's part of our youth."

Homecoming for Former Sooners Standout Dionnah Jackson-Durrett

Kansas City is coached by former OU standout Dionnah Jackson-Durrett.

From 2001-05, Jackson played 131 games for the Sooners, averaging 11.4 points, 6/3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

"I'm excited for Dionnah," Baranczyk said. "It was nice to have her back. I think they're just going to have a great season."

Legendary former Sooners coach Sherri Coale watched the first half from the baseline.

Jackson-Durrett is in her fourth season coaching the Roos.

She took over the program after Jacie Hoyt left to take over at Oklahoma State.

The Roos entered this season 33-64 under Jackson-Durrett.

She began her coaching career at Southeast Missouri State in 2010 before stints at George Mason, Mississippi State and Texas.

Read More Oklahoma Women's Basketball

Aaliyah Chavez Starts off Hot, Keeps Rolling

Sooners Start to Learn Lessons from Loss

Homecoming for Former Sooners Standout Dionnah Jackson-Durrett