by OU Athletics Communications
NORMAN – Career-high performances from Kelbie Washington (Choctaw), Skylar Vann and others led the Oklahoma women’s basketball team to an 89-67 victory over Wichita State on Wednesday to close the Sooners’ non-conference schedule.
Vann made her first start of the season as Oklahoma (11-1) extended its winning streak to eight games — its longest in 15 years. The 22-point win over Wichita State (9-4) is the Sooners’ sixth win by double digits this year as OU’s margin of victory of 15.8 points ranks 30th in the nation.
“I am just really, really proud of our team for their response tonight,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “Obviously we were down a few people tonight and I couldn’t be more excited about the 27 assists, the balance in our scoring and the energy we played with. Wichita State is a very good basketball team, they’re great defensively and on the glass and for us to come out the way that we did, I just couldn’t be more proud of us.”
Playing without unanimous All-Big 12 preseason selection Madi Williams, the Sooners starting lineup of Washington, Kennady Tucker, Taylor Robertson, Vann and Scott combined for 77 points and 32 rebounds as it took control of the game in the second quarter and never looked back.
In that second quarter, the Shockers cut OU’s small lead to just one before a quick 7-0 Sooner run grew the lead to 29-21 behind points from freshmen Kaley Perkins and Bre’yon White, as well as Vann. Oklahoma maintained that lead throughout the rest of the half and entered the break up 44-36.
Coming out of the half, the Sooners exploded offensively, making four of its first six shots to balloon the lead to 15 points before a 14-0 Shocker run cut the deficit to just one with 5:13 left in the game forcing Baranczyk to take a timeout. OU would eventually respond, closing the third quarter with a 9-1 run of its own to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.
As it did in its comeback win over Utah, the Sooners dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Wichita State 26-14 in the final frame. A 13-5 run over the first 3:12 of the final frame proved to be too much for the Shockers to overcome as Oklahoma secured its 11th win of the season and closed the non-conference slate and 2021 with a win.
Skylar Vann led the team with 21 points on nine made field goals, both career highs. The forward from Edmond, Okla., added eight rebounds and three assists in her first start of the season. Senior Taylor Robertson sunk a trio of 3-pointers on her way to 19 points, grabbing four rebounds and three assists too. Liz Scott played 25 minutes and registered the second double-double of her career with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Kennady Tucker and Kaley Perkins both tallied career-highs in points, scoring 12 and six, respectively.
Freshman guard Kelbie Washington became the first freshman in school history to notch a double-double with assists as she dished out a career-high 13 dimes and scored 11 points while adding six boards and five steals. The freshman’s 13 assist makes her the second Big 12 freshman in the last decade to notch 13 dimes in a game, matching TCU’s Zahna Medley, who did so in 2013. In addition, the guard’s stat sheet made her the only freshman in the country since at least the 2009-10 season to tally 11 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and five steals in a single game.
The double-doubles from Scott and Washington mark the first time two Sooners tallied double-doubles in the same game since Skylar Vann and Nevaeh Tot did so precisely a year ago on Dec. 29, 2020, vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The Sooners dished out 27 assists, their second-most of the season as a team. They outrebounded Wichita State, whose rebound margin of +11.5 ranked 12th heading into tonight, by seven boards as the Sooners grabbed 50 to the Shockers’ 43 off the glass. Oklahoma sunk 10 treys for the seventh time this year, suitable for third-most in the country.
