2 Seed UConn Huskies 3 Seed Oklahoma Sooners
33-3 (18-0) 27-7 (11-5)
Date: Saturday, March 29th 2025
Time: 5:30
Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
Spokane, Wash.
TV: ESPN
0
OKLAHOMA-UCONN
HUSKIES LEAD 13-0
H: 4-0 | A: 4-0 | N: 5-0
12/29/99 #1 UConn 84, Oklahoma 68 Norman, Okla.
03/25/00 #1 UConn 102, Oklahoma 80 Richmond, Va.
12/22/01 #1 UConn 86, Oklahoma 72 Hartford, Conn.
03/31/02 #1 UConn 82, Oklahoma 70 San Antonio, Texas
12/01/02 #3 UConn 73, Oklahoma 60 Honolulu, Hawaii
11/20/05 #9 UConn 82, #25 Oklahoma 62 Storrs, Conn.
11/30/08 #1 UConn 106, #4 Oklahoma 78 Storrs, Conn.
02/15/10 #1 UConn 76, #11 Oklahoma 60 Norman, Okla.
02/14/11 #2 UConn, 86, #12 Oklahoma 45 Hartford, Conn.
02/13/12 #2 UConn 73, Oklahoma 55 Norman, Okla.
12/19/17 #1 UConn 88, Oklahoma 64 Uncasville, Conn.
12/12/18 #1 UConn 72, Oklahoma 63 Norman, Okla.
12/22/19 #2 UConn 81, Oklahoma 57 Uncasville, Conn.
Oklahoma Season to Date
Oklahoma has had a very good season in their first year in the SEC. They are in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2013 where they lost to Tennessee.
The Sooners have only lost to ranked team except for Mississippi State who they lost to 81-77. They were defeated by No. 13 Duke 109-99 in overtime, No. 5 Texas 80-73, No. 1 South Carolina 101-60, No 7 LSU 107-100, No.12 Kentucky 95-86, and again to No. 5 South Carolina 93-75.
They also beat a few ranked teams. They defeated No. 22 Louisville 78-72, No. 20 Michigan72-62, No. 15 Tennessee 87-86, No. 20 Alabama 91-84, and No. 12 Kentucky 69-65.
All these rankings were what the teams were ranked at the time they played.
UConn and Oklahoma had five mutual opponents. Oklahoma scores listed first.
-41, -18 South Carolina +29
+1 Tennessee -4
+6 Louisville +33
+10 Ole Miss +13
+23 DePaul +26
So far in the NCAA tournament, Oklahoma defeated 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast 81-58 and 6 seed Iowa 96-62. Taking care of business.
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Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn Oklahoma
81.7 PPG 85.4
51.5 Defensive PPG 68.5
30.2 Scoring Margin 16.9
51.3 Field Goal % 45.8
34.6 Defensive FG% 37.0
38.1 Three Point % 33.2
29.0 Defensive 3PT% 29.0
76.6 Free Throw % 71.7
37.3 Rebounds/game 47.9
6.4 Rebounding Margin 13.0
21.2 Assists per game 21.9
10.7 Turnover per game 18.7
2.0 Assists/TO ratio 1.2
11.3 Steals per game 8.9
4.2 Blocks per game 3.9
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UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
Had surgery on her ankle. Out for the season
Had surgery on 12/16. Out for the Season
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma Starters
Oklahoma Bench
Game Analysis
Every team has an identity. This version of the Sooners is all about rebounding and second chances. They have to be because they are a poor shooting team.
Overall, Oklahoma shoots only 45.8% from the field and 32.2% on threes. They get to the foul line ofter, but shoot at only 71.7%. They make up for that by grabbing 47.9 rebounds per game and snag 15 offensive rebounds per game.
Leading the way for the Sooners is 6'4" Junior Center Raegan Beer. A former UConn portal target (came in second), Beers is a load in the paint. She is scoring at a 17.5 PPG clip. She also leads the team in RPG at 9.3. Beers leads the team in blocks as well with 39. One of two players on the team over 50% from the field at 64.5%. She also gets to the FT line 5 times per game. And she does this on only 20 MPG. She will be a challenge.
Beers is really important for the Sooners but she is not more important that 6'1" Senior Guard Payton Verhults. Second in the team in scoring at 14.9 PPG, she is their point guard and leader. She is averaging 4.1 APG and has a solid 2-1 assists to turnover ratio. She takes the most three pointers by far and hits them at a decent 34.8%. However she only shoots 42.3% from the field. Verhults also leads the team with 49 steals. Payton has a knack in hitting clutch three pointers so UConn will have to watch her closely. She also loves to hit the boards from the guard spot averaging 5.8 RPG.
Third on the team in scoring is 5'11" Sophomore Forward Sahara Williams. Averaging 10.6 PPG, she is not a very good shooter, She is 41.3% from the field and on 4 attempts per game, she is shooting only 30.2% on threes. A solid rebounder at 4.8 RPG, she is also a strong defender.
The only other double digit scorer, RS Senior Forward 6' Skylar Vann is averaging 10 PPG. Vann is a solid ball handler with 93 assists and only 54 turnovers. She is another weak shooter hitting 41.7% from the field and 27% on threes. Another good rebounder she is averaging 4.9 RPG.
Reyna Scott, a 6'2" RS Senior Forward is the final starter. She has started 15 games this season. Only playing 13.8 MPG, she will be in and out of the lineup in this game. She is averaging 4.7 PPG and is another poor shooter hitting only 43.6% of her shots and 26.7% on threes.
First off the bench, Zia Vann (Skylar's little sister) is averaging 7.1 PPG. The 5'7" freshman guard is the first off the bench. She is second on the team in steals with 45.
Liz Scott (no relation to Reyna) is a 6'2" RS Senior Forward. She is the ONLY other player that shoots over 43.6% from the field. She is at 53.2%. She grabs rebounds at 4.8 RPG and is scoring at 6.7 PPG.
Lexi Keys, a 5'7" RS Senior Guard and Nevaeh Tot, a 5'9" RS Senior Guard will probably not get many minutes. Keys shoots 37.7% from the field and 33.8% on threes Tot is shooting 32.7% from the field and 29.7% on threes. They positives are they don't turn over the ball much. They are averaging 5 assists and 3 turnovers per game between them.
Oklahoma is a pretty big team. They start 6'4", 6'2", 6'1", 6' and 5'11". And they all crash the boards. In the first game in the tournament they had 72 rebounds, 23 of them offensive. Against Iowa they had 64 rebounds, 24 of them offensive. Wow. A further look at the stats tells you they HAD to rebound like that with how poorly they shot in those games. Against FGCU, they shot 38,7% from the field, 30.8% on threes and 68.8% from the foul line. Against Iowa they shot 40.7% from the field, 32.4% on threes and 70.4% from the foul line.
Oklahoma also gets to the foul line often, 43 times in those two games.
UConn will have to do continue their good shooting and find a way to keep Oklahoma off the boards. Sara Strong is the key to that. And can El Alfy do a decent job with Beers before getting into foul trouble.
I'm not sure that the Sooners have the players to guard the Huskies. They are not particularly quick. They play a man to man defense but Beers floats to the circle to protect the paint when she can. If she is guarding Strong at any point, advantage UConn.
Prediction
It's pretty simple. If UConn can hit their shots and keeps Oklahoma mostly off the boards then UConn runs away with it. If Oklahoma can hold UConn below their shooting averages and can get enough second chance baskets they have a chance.
It's have a hard time imagining the latter happening. Too many offense choices for UConn and Oklahoma is not a very good defensive team. It should be interesting to see how this game turns out but I like the Huskies chances.
UConn by 15+
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