Why Jennie Baranczyk is Full of 'Gratitude' for Oklahoma Fans Ahead of LSU Clash

NORMAN — Oklahoma will have plenty of support to take on No. 6 LSU.

Sunday’s Top 15 battle will be staged in the midst of a sold-out crowd, marking the first time OU women’s basketball has sold out the Lloyd Noble Center since Feb. 28, 2009.

“I learned recently that ’09 was the last time that we had a sellout, and so immediately my mind went to Courtney Paris,” OU’s All-American center Raegan Beers said on Friday. “And it’s like, this team is doing the things that’s getting us to where Courtney Paris was.

“Obviously, she’s an insane player, but to be able to do those things and to reach this point is just incredible and I’m proud of this team for getting us there… It’s going to be really exciting.”

On that day, 12,193 fans packed the Lloyd Noble Center to watch the Sooners take down Oklahoma State 73-63.

One week earlier, Oklahoma hosted Kim Mulkey’s Baylor and won that game 66-58 in front of another sold-out crowd.

Now, the Sooners hope to use Sunday’s crowd to fuel a victory over another Mukley-led squad, with No. 2 South Carolina set to visit Norman on the following Thursday.

For OU coach Jennie Baranczyk, she sees Sunday as another opportunity to grow the sport locally.

How to Watch No. 13 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 LSU

When: Sunday, Jan. 18
Where: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, OK
When: 2 p.m.
Channel: ESPN2

“We keep talking about, from a national perspective, there’s a lot of eyes on this program,” Baranczyk said. “There’s a lot of eyes on this conference, and so for our local people to be able to come — and I know there will be LSU fans. … But think about how many people will be here and it’s their first time here.

“And it’s their first time maybe at a women’s basketball game or at least an Oklahoma women’s basketball game. So we don’t want to take that for granted.”

Baranczyk said she’s especially thankful for the OU fans who have been in the stands to back her team from the very first day she stepped on campus.

“I just could not have more gratitude that the people who started coming here,” she said. “… They’ve willed this as much as our dreams have, as much as our players have. It’s the fans that come every game and that stay until the end and that are part of this with us, they’re the ones that have made this happen.”

The Sooners need to harnass the crowd to try and end their current skid.

After notching two dominant SEC victories, Oklahoma has fallen short against No. 16 Ole Miss and No. 7 Kentucky in back-to-back contests.

A win keeps the Sooners in the chasing pack in the SEC, espeically with the Gamecocks coming to town next.

OU’s big goals for the season can’t be accomplished on a Sunday in January, but Beers did say her teammates are fired up that the popularity of the program has grown to the point of selling out the contest days before this weekend’s massive contest.

“Beyond exciting,” Beers said. “Obviously like Jennie said, we have some devoted fans who have continued to come and show up for us and it is incredible just to see the work that we’ve put in day in and day out, to see that in an arena.”