In its first-ever road game in the Southeastern Conference, Oklahoma held off a late Tennessee run to win its first SEC game, 87-86, on Sunday in Knoxville, earning NCAA.com team of the week honors.
Oklahoma split a pair of top-15 SEC games this week, losing at home to No. 5 Texas, 80-73 on Jan. 2, before rebounding to win at No. 15 ranked and previously undefeated Tennessee on Sunday.
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Senior guard Payton Verhulst scored 16 points including two free throws with 50 seconds left in the game to help Oklahoma hold off a late Tennessee rally. Leading 46-39 at the halftime break, the Sooners outpaced Tennessee 29-20 in the third quarter, growing the lead to as many as 19 points with 3:49 left in the quarter. The Lady Vols answered with a strong run in the final minutes to cut Oklahoma’s lead to one before Tennessee’s Sara Puckett missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds as the Sooners held on for the win, dropping Tennessee to 13-1 on the season.
The Sooners (13-2, 1-1) also got 13 points and eight rebounds from 6-4 junior center Raegan Beers and 11 points each from Reyna Scott and Liz Scott. One of the nation’s deepest teams, Oklahoma’s bench outscored Tennessee by 36 points (45-9) in the win. The Sooners entered the day ranked eighth nationally in bench points at 34.1 per game.
In the seven-point home loss to Texas earlier the week, Verhulst scored 23 points and Scott added 14 for Oklahoma. The Sooners squandered a 12-point lead in the second quarter, but kept it close, even without leading scorer Beers, who got in early foul trouble and scored 11 points in 17 minutes. Oklahoma got 11 points from Verhulst in third quarter, tying the game at 60 before Texas posted a decisive 20-13 scoring edge in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Key to the win was Texas scoring 28 points off 27 Oklahoma turnovers.
No. 10 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll released on Monday, Oklahoma will next travel to Mississippi State on Jan. 9, before returning to Norman, Okla. to host Texas A&M on Jan. 12
