Sweet Again: Oklahoma Dominates Iowa to Advance to Sweet 16

Monday, March 24

3 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

27-7,11-5SEC

Iowa

23-11,10-8Big Ten

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Oklahoma

Sweet Again: Oklahoma Dominates Iowa to Advance to Sweet 16

March 24, 2025 | Women's Basketball

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By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Skylar Vann scored 17 points, Payton Verhulst added 16 and No. 3 seed Oklahoma cruised into the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament, dispatching No. 6 seed Iowa 96-62 on Monday.

The Sooners will play in their 11th Sweet 16 in program history and the first since 2013.

Raegan Beers had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in just 18 minutes for the Sooners.

Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk beat her alma mater and advanced past the second round for the first time in her four years with the Sooners. Oklahoma (27-7) will play UConn or South Dakota State on Saturday in Spokane, Washington.

Caitlin Clark had led Iowa to the previous two national championship games before she became the No. 1 overall pick in last year's WNBA draft. Without her, the Hawkeyes shot 36.4% from the field. Lucy Olsen scored 20 points and Kylie Feuerbach added 14 for Iowa (23-11).

Iowa ran out to a 10-4 lead, but the Sooners closed the first quarter on a 16-1 run. The Sooners led 38-27 at halftime, despite Beers sitting out most of the half with two fouls.

Oklahoma, which went 2-for-17 on 3-pointers in the first half, hit three in a 55-second span early in the second half to go up 49-32. The Sooners pushed the lead to 68-43 by the end of the third quarter.

The Sooners will play either No. 2 seed UConn or No. 10 seed South Dakota State on Saturday in Spokane, Wash.

POSTGAME NOTES

• No. 3 seed Oklahoma (27-7) advanced to its first Sweet 16 since 2013 and 11^th in program history on Monday afternoon by defeating sixth-seeded Iowa (23-11), 96-62, at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

• The Sooners' 34-point win was its second largest tournament margin of victory in program history, trailing only a 90-55 win over Loyola (Md.) in the 1995 first round.

• Oklahoma grabbed 64 rebounds in the win, outrebounding Iowa by 31 boards. The Sooners' 136 rebounds in its first two tournament games are the most in a two-game stretch in NCAA Tournament history. OU grabbed an NCAA Tournament record 72 rebounds in its first-round win over Florida Gulf Coast.

• Oklahoma had six players score in double figures: Skylar Vann (17), Payton Verhulst (16), Sahara Williams (13), Raegan Beers (11), Liz Scott (11) and Zya Vann (10). The Sooners' 96 points were the third most for Oklahoma in a tournament game in program history, and the most since it scored a record 111 vs. Quinnipiac in 2015.

• The Sooners held the Hawkeyes to 62 points, 12.8 points less than their season average of 75.8 PPG. Oklahoma has held 27 of its 34 opponents under their season scoring average, including in back-to-back games.

• Skylar Vann, who played her last career game at Lloyd Noble Center on Monday, led the team with 17 points and moved into ninth in the program's annals for NCAA Tournament points in a career with 133.

• Redshirt seniors Skylar Vann and Nevaeh Tot have now played in and won 112 games at Oklahoma, the third most in program history. A win in the Sweet 16 would move them into a tie with Courtney and Ashley Paris for the most in school history. The two won 12 games in their first season as Sooners in 2020-21.

• Raegan Beers posted her second consecutive double-double, finishing with 11 points and 13 rebounds in just 18 minutes. She tied her career high with four blocks.

• Waterloo, Iowa, product Sahara Williams scored all 13 of her points in the first half and added nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

• The Sooners made 11 3-pointers (nine in the second half), making double-digit 3-pointers for the 10^th time this season.

• Oklahoma improved to 70-5 under Baranczyk (18-3 this season) when scoring 80 points and 24-0 in 2024-25 when holding its opponent under 80 points.

• The Sooners have won 11 of their last 12 games, with the lone loss coming to top-seeded South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinal.

• Oklahoma, who has already set a school record for assists in a season with 746 and leads the nation in assists per game (21.9 APG), dished out 23 dimes on 33 made field goals.

• Baranczyk got her second career win against her alma mater – the fourth-year Sooner head coach played at Iowa from 2000-04 and coached at Drake from 2012-21. She will coach in the Sweet 16 for the first time as a player or coach.

• The Southeastern Conference tied its own record (1997) for the most teams from a single conference in the Sweet 16 with six. Across the men's and women's tournaments, 13 of the 32 teams in the Sweet 16 hail from the SEC.