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    OU Basketball: No. 23 Oklahoma Hangs on to Escape Cincinnati

    Skylar Vann had another big game and Lexy Keys scored her 1,000th career point as the Sooners' maintained a grip on first place in the Big 12.

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    Oklahoma Sooners
    Oklahoma Sooners

    Oklahoma bent Tuesday evening in Cincinnati, but the Sooners didn’t break.

    No. 23-ranked OU built a big lead, then held off a late rally for a 95-87 win over the Bearcats.

    The Bearcats (12-14, 4-11), who trailed by as many as 22 points, refused to lay down. They scored 13 unanswered points — inside the final two minutes of the game — to make it a six-point game with 13 seconds left. The Sooners (19-7, 13-2) held on to leave town with an albeit unexpectedly uncomfortable win coming off their first loss in over a month, a 70-66 decision to No. 24 West Virginia on Saturday.

    Oklahoma WBB 95, Cincinnati 87

    The Sooners took an early 23-12 lead, but it evaporated quickly as Cincinnati tied the game at 26 in the second quarter. Lexy Keys, who scored her 1,000th career point in the first quarter, knocked down a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to put the Sooners ahead 44-37 at the break.

    The Bearcats went on another run scoring on seven straight possessions late in the third and early in the fourth quarter, cutting the Sooners’ lead from 22 to 12 in the process. It allowed the Bearcats to stay within striking distance for their aforementioned late-night run, but the Sooners had already built enough cushion to win, even without scoring a field goal during the last 3:15 of the game.

    Skylar Vann had her 19th consecutive game scoring in double figures with 22 points. Keys and Sahara Williams had 17 points each, and Aubrey Joens scored 10. The Sooners scored 46 points in the paint and 25 in transition.

    Cincinnati’s Jillian Hayes scored 20 points while Malea Williams and A’riel Jackson scored 18 each. The Bearcats shot 61 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.

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