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Oklahoma Survives TCU Scare in Big 12 Tournament Opener

Skylar Vann turns in a big offensive night and the game-winning shot as the Sooners win by a point and advance to Saturday's semifinals.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma Survives TCU Scare in Big 12 Tournament Opener
Oklahoma Survives TCU Scare in Big 12 Tournament Opener

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Oklahoma Sooners

Madi Williams wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away.

Neither was Skylar Vann.

Williams, Oklahoma’s indefatigable senior forward, dramatically returned from injury Friday, but it was Vann who led the Sooners with 21 points, including the game-winning layup in an unexpectedly tense 77-76 victory over TCU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

Wrapping up her final season of college basketball, Williams sustained an injury early in last Saturday’s regular-season finale at Oklahoma State. Coach Jennie Baranczyk said she didn’t know if Williams could play this weekend, but, wearing a large black brace on her left knee, Williams was in the starting lineup and contributing early at Municipal Auditorium and played 24 minutes with six points and four assists.

With Williams back, OU started slow but settled in behind 21 points from Vann, 17 from Taylor Robertson and 15 from Aubrey Joens, although Joens didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

Vann’s game-winner came with 2.2 seconds to play and sent the Sooners into the next round.

OU improved to 25-5 overall this season while TCU ends its season at 8-23.

The No. 2-seed Sooners advance to Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Friday night’s Iowa State-Baylor game.

OU didn’t lead TCU until just two minutes remained in the first half at 33-32, and then extended that to 36-34 — both on drives to the basket by freshman Beatrice Culliton.

Joens then knocked down her third 3-pointer to extend the Sooners’ lead to 39-34 at halftime. Joens had 13 points by intermission.

With Williams limited — she played just 11 minutes and scored two points in the first half — the Sooners got big first-half contributions from Robertson nine points on 3-for-3 shooting), Vann (seven points, including a 3) and Culliton (six points).

TCU, the 10-seed who shocked Kansas in Thursday’s opening round, stunned the Sooners from the opening tip, racing to a 10-point lead at 18-8 and 20-10. Turnovers were the culprit, as five OU miscues led to 11 Horned Frog points in the first quarter. Oklahoma totaled nine turnovers in the opening half, leading to 12 TCU points.

The Sooners quickly shot their way back to a 20-19 tally with two minutes left in the first quarter, but TCU just as suddenly regained a 26-19 lead and led 26-23 at the end of the period.

Oklahoma cranked up the defensive heat in the second quarter, holding TCU to just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting — including the last 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal — as the Sooners captured control of the game.

In the third quarter, a 3-pointer by Nevaeh Tot and back-to-back layups by Vann pushed the Sooners to their first double-digit lead at 46-36.

OU led by 11 at 56-45, but TCU went on a 9-0 run over a three-minute stretch that closed it to 56-54 with 1:23 to go in the period.

But it was Williams who closed out the third quarter strong with successful jumper, followed by a steal, followed by a forceful layup to give Oklahoma a 60-54 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, OU’s offense hit another lull of more than three minutes without a point.

But Vann put in a fast-break layup on a pass from Robertson following Tot’s steal for a 64-57 lead, and Vann then converted an uncontested 10-footer on an inbounds pass from Robertson to make it 66-57.

Robertson then buried a long 3 to give the Sooners a 69-62 lead, but TCU wouldn’t go away.

Lucy Ibeh — who led all scorers with 24 points — scored on an inbounds play to make it 73-72 with 2:03 to play.

Vann responded with a bucket inside to make it 75-72 at the 1:48 mark but TCU couldn’t convert multiple possessions as Kennady Tucker drew an offensive foul on Tomi Taiwo with 1:08 left.

Ibeh blocked a shot and broke away for an easy layup to cut OU’s lead to 75-74 with 35 seconds to play, and the Sooners committed their 17th turnover when Williams couldn’t corral an entry pass with 11 seconds left, setting up the Horned Frogs’ penultimate possession.

Ibeh took the inbounds pass in the front court and drove to the lane, spun and put up a floater that drifted through the net with five seconds left.

After an OU timeout, Vann caught Robertson’s inbounds pass, drove to the basket and hit the game winner with 2.2 seconds to play.

TCU's half-court shot at the buzzer was short.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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