OU women hold on in thriller vs. FGCU, 73-70
And take that deep breath and sigh of relief, OU fans. It’s March, just survive and advance.
Florida Gulf Coast had a great look at a game-tying 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left, but no good. It bounced off the rim, and the Sooners claimed the victory.
The OU women trailed early but fought back to lead to a fun and back and forth second half. And ultimately? A 73-70 victory against the No. 12 seed FGCU on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Sooners will play No. 4 seed Indiana on the Hoosiers’ home court Monday. Time to be determined later Saturday.
Indiana had no problems with No. 13 Fairfield earlier in the day in Bloomington, 89-56. Indiana has not lost at home this season.
OU was behind 25-15 after the end of the first quarter and trailed by as many as 14 points. But if this season has shown anything, just breathe and keep going. Jennie Barnczyk and company have shown the resilience and perseverance all season. It wasn’t about to stop now in the tournament.
Leading the way was Skylar Vann. Your best players need to come up big when it matters most, and Vann did that with a 24-point effort.
The game was tied 70-70 in the final minute with Payton Verholst hit a short jumper to give OU the lead. Vann would add a free throw with 16 seconds left. She missed the second, but FGCU couldn’t convert on its first try to tie the game.
A possession arrow gave the ball back to FGCU with 1 second left. After a deflection on the inbound pass, that led to 0.4 and the final sequence.
It might have taken a long while between the reviews, but all worth it for OU.
Verhulst did a little bit of everything with 11 points, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Sahara Williams added 14 points, including going 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
OU (23-9) advances to the second round for the third straight season. The Sooners have been bounced in the Round of 32 the last two times under Baranczyk..
