Sooners, Williams Tame Mustangs On Field Trip Day

The Oklahoma women's basketball remained perfect on the season Friday by knocking off SMU 97-74 at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

On the program's annual Junior Field Trip Day, where over 5,000 kids filled the arena, Madi Williams took over the game by scoring a game-high 25 points paired with five rebounds and four assists to power No. 15 Oklahoma (2-0) in the 23-point rout. The Sooners shot 61% (14-of-23) from behind the arc, marking the first time an OU team has shot over 60% from deep with over 20 attempts since Nov. 29, 2012, vs. Northwestern State.

"What a fun day for our program. I love this day with all the kids at the game," Baranczyk said. "In terms of on the court, I thought we did some really great things, but there are still some things for us to work on. I love how Madi Williams set the tone for us and really did everything. I love the way we shared the basketball today and I'm really happy with the depth of our team."

Despite meeting last year, the two teams spent the first quarter feeling each other out. ­Tied at 15 with 1:12 left, Williams hit a jumper, Nevaeh Tot buried a 3-pointer and Aubrey Joens sunk a pair of free throws to extend the Sooner lead to 22-15 after one. Oklahoma began to pour it on in the second quarter when four different Sooners buried 3-pointers to cap an 18-4 run over 3:35 to jump out in front. SMU (1-1), who is receiving votes in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll, cut Oklahoma's lead down to just eight at the 4:36 mark of the third quarter, but balanced scoring pushed the Sooners' lead to 13 after three frames. Looking to put the Mustangs away, Oklahoma drained three consecutive treys to push the lead to 19 and put the game away in the fourth. OU's lead ballooned to 23 points, 89-66, after a Skylar Vann layup midway through the fourth, and the Sooners closed on a 4-0 run to win 97-74.

Williams was efficient, scoring 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from deep. The forward took over in the second half, scoring 14 points in closing time to lead OU to the win. Iowa State transfer Aubrey Joens reached double-figures for the first time as a Sooner. The guard was 3-of-4 from behind the arc, the second deep ball marking her 100th career trey en route to 13 points. Skylar Vann and Nevaeh Tot added 12 points apiece, firing a matching 4-of-7 clip shooting. Tot led the team with seven assists, and Vann added a team-high seven rebounds.

As a team, the Sooners have now posted back-to-back 95+ point games in regulation for the first time since they did so vs. Lamar (100 points) and Bradley (104 points) in 2014. It's the seventh game of 95+ points since Baranczyk took over the program at the start of the 2021 season, tied with Iowa for second most in the country in that time span, and only trailing DePaul's 11 instances. For the first time in program history, six different Sooners tallied at least two 3-pointers. The Sooners had 23 assists and just 10 turnovers, and the team's 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio was the sixth best for a Sooner team since the start of the 2009-10 season.

With the season-opening home swing behind them, Oklahoma now preps for a four-game road trip. The away stand opens Nov. 15 when the Sooners get a rematch with BYU in Provo, Utah, followed by a showdown with Utah, who received the most votes outside of the top 25 in the preseason AP Poll, on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.