Sooners Roll in First-Round Rout of FGCU

Saturday, March 22

1:30 PM

University of Oklahoma

26-7,11-5SEC

Florida Gulf Coast

30-4,18-0ASUN

FGCU

Oklahoma

Photo by: Johnny Smiley/University of Oklahoma

Sooners Roll in First-Round Rout of FGCU

March 22, 2025 | Women's Basketball

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By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Raegan Beers had 25 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 3 seed Oklahoma dominated the fourth quarter to beat 14th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast 81-58 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

The Sooners led 55-48 entering the fourth, then outscored the Eagles 26-10 in the final period.

Beers, a 6-foot-4 center, towered over a team with no starter taller than 5-9. She helped the Sooners outrebound the Eagles 72-35.

Skylar Vann scored 24 points and Payton Verhulst added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Sooners (26-7).

The Sooners' 72 total rebounds set an NCAA Tournament record.

Oklahoma advanced to play No. 6 seed Iowa — Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk's alma mater — on Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Oklahoma defeated Florida Gulf Coast 73-70 in the first round of last year's tournament.

Emani Jefferson, the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year who had 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Sooners last year, had 12 points and eight rebounds in the rematch while spending much of the day in foul trouble. She made 3 of 11 field goals.

Dolly Cairns scored 15 points for the Eagles (30-4), who had won 23 straight. Florida Gulf Coast shot 23.6% from the field and made 8 of 41 3-pointers (19.5%).

Tickets for Monday's game are on sale now starting at $13.

POSTGAME NOTES

• No. 3 seed Oklahoma (26-7) outscored No. 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast by 16 points in the fourth quarter to win 81-58 in Norman on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners advanced to the second round of the championship for the fourth consecutive season and will face No. 6 seed Iowa at Lloyd Noble Center on Monday, with the game time and TV designation to be determined.

• Fourth-year Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk won her 100^th game as the OU head coach, reaching the milestone faster than any Sooner coach, doing so in 133 games.

• The 11^th-ranked Sooners set an NCAA Tournament record with 72 total rebounds, breaking the previous record of 69 (UConn vs. St. Francis in 2018). The 72 boards were the second most in program history (75 vs. Cameron in 1982).

• All-America honoree Raegan Beers led the way with her 13th double-double of the season, finishing with 25 points (10-of-20 FG) and 18 rebounds — the most in a game during the Baranczyk era. She came close to matching her career highs in both points (30) and rebounds (20), and her 18 boards were just two shy of Courtney Paris' OU tournament record.

• Redshirt senior Skylar Vann scored a season-high 24 points (9 of 15) behind a trio of 3-pointers, adding nine rebounds and four assists in the victory. The Edmond, Okla., product corralled a team-high seven offensive rebounds.

• Payton Verhulst added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Sahara Williams tallied 10 rebounds, while Liz Scott grabbed seven boards in 10 minutes of action.

• Oklahoma held FGCU (30-4) to just 24% from the floor (17 of 72), the second lowest field goal percentage for an OU NCAA Tournament opponent in program history. The Sooners have held 26 of their 33 opponents below their average points per game this season, 16 of which scored 10+ fewer than their season average.

• Oklahoma improved to 69-5 under Baranczyk (17-3 this season) when scoring 80 points and 23-0 in 2024-25 when holding its opponent under 80 points.

• The Sooners have won 10 of their last 11 games, with the lone loss coming to top-seeded South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinal.

• Oklahoma, who has set a school record for assists in a season with 723 and leads the nation in assists per game (21.9 APG), dished out 23 dimes on 31 made field goals.

• OU moved to 20-4 in first-round games in the tournament and 32-8 against lower seeds. The Sooners also moved to 19-0 in Quad 2-4 games in 2024-25 with an average margin of victory of nearly 30 points. In total, Oklahoma now has 14 wins of 20+ points on the season against all opponents.

• The Sooners improved to 2-0 all-time against Florida Gulf Coast, who had won 23 straight entering Saturday, as OU has ended the Eagles' season in each of the last two years.