Newcomers shine in OU women’s dominant exhibition win

NORMAN — New faces shined during No. 23 Oklahoma’s exhibition win on Tuesday night as OU’s four newcomers combined for 57 points and 32 rebounds in the Sooners’ 113-38 victory over West Texas A&M at Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners dominated from the jump and outscored West Texas A&M by at least 10 points in each quarter. Tuesday’s contest was OU’s final tune-up before it opens the 2023-24 season Monday afternoon at home against Wichita State.

“I thought we did some really great things tonight,” third-year OU women’s coach Jennie Baranczyk said after the game. “We wanted to test ourselves with a team that had a strong inside presence and did some really nice things offensively, and I thought that we got better because of it. We have some things we need to improve on, definitely, but I’m happy with what we did tonight.”

Lexy Keys and Sahara Williams led the way as the two newcomers poured in 23 and 20 points, respectively. Keys’ game-high 23 points were powered by six 3-pointers in her Sooner debut after transferring to OU from Oklahoma State. Williams’, a five-star freshman from Waterloo, Iowa, notched a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double in the exhibition.

The defending Big 12 champion Sooners opened the game on a 10-1 run, powered by Williams, who launched her college career with a block on the defensive end before rattling off eight of the team’s first 10 points. OU outscored WTAMU, who made the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2022, 27-9 in the first frame. A 12-0 run to open the second quarter helped OU push its lead to 62-23 at the half.

Keys opened the second half by burying a trio of 3-pointers before the Lady Buffs even scored, guiding a 10-0 run to start the half, growing the lead to 50 and forcing a WTAMU timeout. The Sooners held the Lady Buffs to just one made field goal in the fourth quarter, rolling to a dominant 75-point win.

The Sooners shot 51 percent (43-of-84) in the win, hitting 10 of their 31 3-point attempts (32.3 percent). Baranczyk’s team, which played its first game without Ana Llanusa, Taylor Robertson or Madi Williams on Tuesday in more than 2,100 days, shot 90 percent from the free-throw line. OU outrebounded the Lady Buffs 65-33, pulling down 21 offensive boards. The Sooners finished with 31 assists and just nine turnovers, along with 18 steals.

Joining Keys and Williams in double figures, Beatrice Culliton added 11 points off the bench and starting point guard Nevaeh Tot finished with 10 points and nine assists. Payton Verhulst, a transfer from Louisville, got the start and finished with eight points, seven rebounds and five dimes. Freshman Landry Allen matched fellow freshman Sahara Williams with a team-high 11 boards and added six points.

OU officially opens its campaign at noon Monday when Wichita State comes to Norman.