OU Basketball: If Madi Williams Can't Play for Oklahoma, 'Somebody's Gonna Step Up'

Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk Sees Opportunity for her players and for her team in the Big 12 Tournament, which starts today against TCU.

Oklahoma opens Big 12 Tournament play not knowing for certain if star forward Madi Williams can go, how much she can go, when she can go — but it’s all good, coach Jennie Baranczyk says.

“We’re better with Madi,” Baranczyk said. “We want Madi. But at the same time, if Madi can’t go, somebody’s gonna step up.”

Williams leads OU at 15.7 points per game. She’s a two-time unanimous All-Big 12 and a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award. But she suffered what appeared to be a foot injury in the Sooners’ regular-season finale at Oklahoma State.

No. 2 seed OU (24-5 overall, 14-4 Big 12) meets No. 10 seed TCU (8-22, 1-17) Friday at 5 p.m. in the Big 12 quarterfinals at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. They practiced all week without Williams but Baranczyk said they weren’t sure if she’d be available for the tournament.

“She's doing everything she can and really wants to play,” Baranczyk said. “We are also keeping her future in mind for everything. She'll be back at some point, I just don't know when.”

Baranczyk and the Sooners are encouraged by the fact that Williams went out early in the Bedlam game, but the team still found a way to rally from behind, beat the Cowgirls and claim a share of the Big 12 regular season title.

“We knew if we stayed and we all stayed together and all put in the work that we have, that we would have a chance to do something like this,” said senior guard Taylor Robertson.

Robertson and guard Ana Llanusa earned second-team All-Big 12 accolades this year. Without Williams, they’ll have to step up, and so will everyone else.

“Nothing’s good without Madi,” Baranczyk said. “But everything is exactly how it’s supposed to be. … We will figure it out. We will adjust. I think that’s the powerful part of when you have true chemistry and a true team, in someone’s absence, someone steps up.”

OU is still on the cusp of hosting an NCAA Tournament opening round like the Sooners did last year in Baranczyk’s first season. OU isn’t ranked in the NCAA’s latest top 16, so they’ll need to stay in Kansas City for a few days — and maybe even win it if they want a chance to host next week.

“I am so proud of these guys,” Baranczyk said. “They won four games their freshman year in conference. Sorry. I say that a lot lately. So what are we now, 14? Fourteen (wins). People don’t stay. People like (Robertson) don’t stay. What she’s done, what Madi’s done, what Ana’s done. I mean, Ana’s been through so many different things, and look at her today.”

Said Robertson, “We’ve just gotten better each and every year.”