Beers Dominates as Sooners Hold Off Belmont in Opener

Monday, November 3

Norman, Okla.

4:30 PM

University of Oklahoma

1-0,0-0SEC

Belmont

0-1,0-0MVC

Belmont

Oklahoma

Beers Dominates as Sooners Hold Off Belmont in Opener

November 03, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats Highlights

By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN (AP) — Raegan Beers had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 6 Oklahoma took control late to beat Belmont 84-67 on Monday night in the season opener for both teams.

Beers switched from the No. 52 she wore last season to the No. 15 she wore at Oregon State before transferring two seasons ago. She made 13 of 17 shots and fell one point short of her career high.

Oklahoma freshman Aaliyah Chavez, a consensus five-star recruit, scored 16 points on 5-for-18 shooting in her debut. Payton Verhulst and Sahara Williams each scored 11 points for the Sooners.

Jailyn Banks scored 16 points, Sanaa Tripp scored 13 and Hilary Fuller added 12 for Belmont, the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference.

Chavez made her mark early. Her first assist was a pass to Verhulst for a 3-pointer. Chavez missed her first two shots before making a 2-point jumper that put the Sooners up 7-0.

Oklahoma pushed the lead to 14-0 before Belmont finally scored with 4:31 left in the first quarter. The Bruins missed their first seven shots.

Oklahoma led 26-16 at the end of the first quarter, and Chavez hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to put the Sooners up 46-34 at the break.

Belmont dominated the early part of the second half and took a 54-51 lead on a 3-pointer by Tripp.

Chavez put the Sooners back up 55-54 with a pull-up jumper. Oklahoma held Belmont scoreless for the final 3:27 of the period to take a 58-54 advantage into the fourth.

Oklahoma took charge in the final period with an 8-0 run that included two buckets from Beers to go up 70-60. The Sooners held Belmont to 4-for-18 shooting in the final 10 minutes.

The Sooners travel to Sacramento, Calif., next Monday (Nov. 10) for a 9:30 p.m. CT matchup with No. 3 UCLA on Fox Sports 1.

POSTGAME NOTES

• No. 6 Oklahoma opened its season with a 84-67 win over Belmont on Monday night at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners outscored the Bruins, who were the runners-up of the 2025 WBIT, by 13 points in the final frame to pull away.

• The Sooners are now 5-0 in season openers under Jennie Baranczyk as OU improved to 41-11 all-time in season openers.

• Preseason All-American Raegan Beers led all scorers with 29 points, one off her career high, while matching her career high with 13 made field goals. The post notched her SEC-leading 46^th career double-double by adding 10 rebounds in the win.

• Sahara Williams tallied her fourth career double-double behind 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds (seven offensive) while dishing out a team-high six assists and collecting two steals. She was also a game-high +24 in the plus/minus category.

• Williams and Beers' performances made them the first Sooner pair to notch double-doubles in the same game since Beers and Payton Verhulst did so against Kentucky on Feb. 2, 2025.

• Freshman Aaliyah Chavez, the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class per multiple outlets, finished with 16 points, five assists and a team-high three steals in her debut. She also played a game-high 37 minutes for the Sooners and hit a pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer sounded in the first half.

• Payton Verhulst neared a double-double with 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting, along with nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

• Despite shooting 13% (3 of 23) from three and just 50% (15 of 30) from the free throw line, Oklahoma scored 84 points and improved to 71-5 under Baranczyk when surpassing 80 points. Overall, OU shot 46.5% (33 of 71) on the night and dished out 22 assists. The Sooners held Belmont to 31.9% shooting and improved to 86-4 since 2021 when shooting more efficiently that their opponent.

• The win marked Oklahoma's 13th straight win at home against unranked foes. The Sooners went 12-0 last season and their last loss in such games was vs. Southern on Dec. 22, 2023.

• The Sooners face No. 3 UCLA next Monday at 9:30 p.m. CT in Sacramento, Calif., on Fox Sports 1. The Bruins face San Diego State at 9 p.m. CT in their season opener.