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OU Basketball: Oklahoma Winning Streak Ends in a Loss at West Virginia

Payton Verhulst scored early and Skylar Vann had double-double, but the Sooners' final conference trip to Morgantown went awry with 25 turnovers.
John E. Hoover|
OU Basketball: Oklahoma Winning Streak Ends in a Loss at West Virginia
OU Basketball: Oklahoma Winning Streak Ends in a Loss at West Virginia

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Oklahoma Sooners

Once again, Payton Verhulst was dialed in from deep. But Oklahoma’s turnovers were too much to overcome.

Verhulst, the Sooners’ junior transfer from Louisville, who scored 25 in a road win at Iowa State last week, came out scorching hot Saturday at West Virginia with four early three-pointers.

Verhulst finished with 20 points and seven rebounds and Skylar Vann posted a double double with 11 and 13 — but it wasn’t enough to overcome a season-high 25 turnovers as West Virginia ended OU’s winning streak with a 70-66 win at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

Nevaeh Tot had a chance to tie it with two free throws and one second left, but missed the first one and committed a lane violation on the second to seal the deal.

No. 23 Oklahoma fell to 18-7 overall and 12-2 in Big 12 Conference play, while No. 24 West Virginia improved to 22-3 and 11-3.

Oklahoma came in on a nine-game winning streak and in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 standings. It was OU’s longest winning streak since the 2008-09 season, when the Sooners won 20 in a row.

OU coach Jennie Barancyk’s team had won 10 straight against ranked opponents, and she had never suffered a loss to WVU.

The Sooners also owned a six-game winning streak in Morgantown (longest by OU against any opponent) and a nine-game winning streak in their alternate anthracite uniforms. Oklahoma also came in having won eight of its nine true road games this season.

Verhulst poured in four 3-pointers in the first half to lead all scorers with 12 points, and then finished the third quarter with another trey from the right corner to give the Sooners their only lead of the period at 48-47.

But OU turnovers started early in the game and mounted throughout, reaching 22 — including three misused and two misses on the first five possessions of the fourth quarter — before a frustrated Baranczyk called timeout with 8:15 to play.

Trailing 52-48 with 7:30 left, Nevaeh Tot dropped in a 3 to cut it to a one-point game, but WVU answered, and another OU turnover allowed the Mountaineers to open up a 56-51 lead.

Vann ripped a 3 on the other end, but after Vann missed another 3, WVU scored back-to-back layups to match their biggest lead of the day at 60-54.

WVU seemed on the verge of pulling away, but Vann dove on the floor for a loose ball and scooped to Verhulst, who trained her sixth 3 with 1:56 to make it a 62-61 game.

After WVU made one of two free throws, Tot’s fifth turnover — and OU’s 25th — created another opportunity for the Mountaineers, and Ja’na Quinerly’s 12-footer gave WVU a 65-61 lead with 47 seconds left.

West Virginia extended the lead to 68-61 with 28 seconds left, but Tot scored a fast-break layup, then after a Kiersten Johnson steal at midcourt, Tot drained a 3 to cut it to 68-66 with 7.6 seconds to play.

Tot finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals, and Lexy Keys scored 11 points.

OU returns to action Tuesday at Cincinnati.

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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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