WBB Game Preview: OU Hosts Arkansas on Thursday for Senior Night

Thursday, February 26

Norman, Okla.

6 PM

University of Oklahoma

Arkansas

Tickets From $12 - $30

WBB Game Preview: OU Hosts Arkansas on Thursday for Senior Night

February 25, 2026 | Women's Basketball

By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN — No. 7 Oklahoma (21-6, 8-5 SEC) will celebrate its senior class and look for its fifth straight win on Thursday night when it hosts Arkansas (11-18, 0-14 SEC) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+ with Chad McKee (play-by-play) and Pooh Williamson (analyst) on the call. Fans can listen on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (107.7 FM) with Brian Brinkley and Carolyn Baker, or in Spanish on Los Sooners Radio (1560 AM) with Luis Rendon. Both broadcasts will stream on the Varsity App.

Oklahoma will celebrate its 2026 senior class of Raegan Beers, Beatrice Culliton and Payton Verhulst after Thursday night's game. The trio has combined to play in more than 275 games in an Oklahoma uniform and helped guide the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament in each of their seasons with the program. Culliton spent all four years in Norman and has been part of 97 OU victories, Verhulst played three seasons with the Sooners and earned All-SEC honors in 2025 after being named the 2024 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while Beers has starred in her two seasons in Norman and earned All-America honors last year.

FAN INFORMATION

Doors open at 5 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center, with tip scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will air on SEC Network+ and on the Sooner Sports Radio Network.

Select concessions (beer, soda and popcorn) will be available for $2 at concession stands at the arena.

Fans can follow live stats throughout the game, and tickets remain available through the Oklahoma Ticket Office.

LAST TIME OUT

No. 11 Oklahoma (21-6, 9-5 SEC) won its third straight game against a top-25 opponent Sunday, toppling No. 21 Tennessee 100-93 in Norman. The Sooners have won four straight overall, and the three consecutive ranked wins mark the first time in program history OU has posted a trio of consecutive regular-season victories over AP Top-25 teams. Oklahoma's 100 points were the second-most a Tennessee team has ever allowed in a conference game and the third most surrendered in program history. The Sooners also extended their program record with their seventh 100-point games this season. The 100 points scored by OU were its fourth most ever against a ranked opponent, and second most of the Baranczyk era vs. top-25 foes (102 at LSU in 2025).

Raegan Beers nearly recorded a 20-point, 20-rebound game, finishing with 18 points and 18 boards in 28 minutes. The center shot 6-of-12 from the field and 6-of-9 at the line. She was aiming to become the first Sooner since Courtney Paris in February 2009 to post a 20-20 performance. The double-double was Beers' SEC-leading 18th of the season and nation-leading 63rd of her career. She had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone and now owns two single-half double-doubles in SEC play this season, while the rest of the league has three combined. All five Oklahoma starters scored in double figures as the nation's second-highest scoring starting lineup combined for 93 points. OU improved to 10-1 this season when five players score at least 10 points.

SERIES HISTORY

Thursday marks the 20th all-time meeting between Oklahoma and Arkansas, and the second of the Baranczyk era. The Sooners beat the Razorbacks by 40, 94-54, last season in Fayetteville as Raegan Beers finished with 30 points. In Norman, the Sooners are 6-2 against the Hogs.

THE FAST BREAK

• OU has played one of the nation's toughest schedules with a strength of schedule ranked 15th nationally. The Sooners have faced 11 ranked opponents, including six that were inside the AP Top 10 at the time of the matchup. OU boasts six Quad 1 wins, tied for the eighth most in the country and the Sooners are have a dozen wins vs. NET top-100 teams.

• Freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez earned her seventh SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday and is now tied with Vanderbilt's Mikayala Blakes for the second most freshman honors in league history. Chavez's seven weekly accolades trail only Courtney Paris' nine in the OU record book and Rhyne Howard's eight wins in the SEC annals.

• Head coach Jennie Baranczyk was tabbed as a top-15 finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year honor last week, marking her third selection to the list in five seasons at OU. Additionally, Raegan Beers and Aaliyah Chavez each earned late-season watch list spots for the Naismith and Wooden National Player of the Year Awards, as well as spots on their positional top-10 watch lists.

• When adjusted for pace, Oklahoma's defense ranks among the nation's best. The Sooners own a defensive rating of 84.2, which ranks 21st nationally, and hold opponents to just 35.3% shooting, the ninth-lowest mark in the country. OU also averages 5.1 blocks per game, 20th nationally, and forces 18.0 turnovers per contest. Baranczyk's team has allowed only five opponents to exceed their season scoring average, and just three have done so in SEC play.

• The Sooners are averaging a program-record 87.2 points per game, a mark that ranks fourth nationally and would surpass last season's school record of 84.7. Oklahoma's starting five combine to score 69.7 points per game, the second-highest total by any starting unit in the country behind only South Carolina. The Sooner offense has set a program record with seven 100-point games and tied the school record with 12 games scoring 90 or more. OU also ranks among the national leaders in several offensive categories, leading the country in pace (79.1) while ranking second in second-chance points (17.3), fifth in fast-break points (17.2), fifth in assists (20.0) and sixth in points in the paint (43.3).

UP NEXT

Oklahoma closes the regular season on Sunday at Missouri. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

The SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C., opens play next Wednesday (March 4) with seeds Nos. 9-16 in action.