Oklahoma Seniors Were Spectacular Carrying OU Back to NCAA Tournament Relevance

Oklahoma hasn’t been to the Sweet Sixteen since 2013.

It only feels like Madi Williams, Taylor Robertson and Ana Llanusa were on that team.

That talented, tough and experienced trio leads the Sooners into Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game against Portland at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, OU’s second straight trip to the Big Dance and the program’s 23rd all-time — and they’re ready to push the program to a place it hasn’t enjoyed in a decade. Tipoff is 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

“I think it's a leave-it-all-on-the-floor type of attitude,” Williams said. “It's March, and it's win or go home. So everybody has that mindset that you bring your all or it's not going to cut it.”

OU (26-5) is a 5-seed and regular season co-champs of the Big 12, while Portland (23-8) is seeded 12th after winning the West Coast Conference.

In each of her two seasons since replacing the legend of Sherri Coale, Jennie Baranczyk has guided the Sooners to the tournament. They failed to make the field in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

But even when they did make it, they haven’t stayed long lately. Coale’s 2013 squad went 2-1 in postseason play, making it into the second weekend before a Sweet Sixteen loss to Tennessee.

First up, of course, is the challenge of Portland. Baranczyk, Williams and 3-point sniper Taylor Robertson this week discussed what a unique challenge the Pilots present.

“They’re really good,” said Robertson. “Looking forward to playing them. Their offense is really good. Our defense is going to have to be like spider's webs on them because they’re really good on offense.”

Winning Saturday won’t be easy. The Sooners are beat up physically — Williams wasn’t full speed when she played in the Big 12 Tournament last week as she nursed a knee injury in the season finale at Oklahoma State — and they’ve lost two of their last five games, both by double-digits.

Saturday’s game represents a stark contrast in styles, as OU ranks second in the nation at 84.5 points per game, and Portland ranks 93rd at 69.5.

Beyond the Pilots lies a potential second-round matchup with the host, No. 17-ranked and 4-seed UCLA (25-9), and 13-seed Sacramento State (25-7). Both of those schools operate at a more deliberate scoring pace as well, averaging 70.2 and 69.2 points, respectively.

“We’re just excited to be here,” Williams said, “and regardless of who we're about to play, we're going to be us, and we're going to come out and play Oklahoma basketball.”

For Baranczyk, making the NCAA Tournament — and hosting — in her first season in Norman was a lot of work, a lot of faith and a lot of fun.

But there’s a different feel to this season — greater expectations. Winning a share of the Big 12 may not not have been expected for this club, but winning a couple of NCAA Tournament games and getting back to the Sweet Sixteen, at some point, is.

Between the three of them, OU’s seniors have combined to play in 408 games. Robertson ranks first in school history with 149, Williams is second at 145. Williams is one of just five players in NCAA women’s basketball history with 2,000 points, 850 rebounds and 300 assists in her career. No college player, men or women, has made more 3s than Robertson’s 534. And Llanusa’s story might be the best of them all: she’s second on the team in scoring this season at 11.7 points per game despite three season-ending injuries in her career.

“What a special class that we have here at Oklahoma, in Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson and Ana Llanusa,” Baranczyk said. “Coaching transitions are not always easy, but it's been incredibly easy here because of the women, their character, the culture.

“They're fun to be around. They practice really hard. They believe and trust in each other. They're the consummate team. I love, love, love coaching this group.”

“So I'm not ready to say it's almost done. We want to coach as long as we possibly can. You're going to put everything you absolutely have into this group. What they've done is spectacular.”

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