by OU Athletic Communications
NORMAN – Taylor Robertson sent the game into overtime and Madi Williams hit a game-winner in the second overtime period as the 18th-ranked Oklahoma women’s basketball team came from behind to beat West Virginia 101-99 in double overtime Saturday afternoon in Norman.
Oklahoma (20-3, 9-2) remains in a tie for first place in the Big 12 and has now reached 20 wins faster than all but two teams in program history. The Mountaineers (11-9, 4-6) led by 12 points in the third quarter before the Sooners’ sixth double-digit comeback of the season forced the game into overtime where OU found a way to win.
“It’s great to be on this side of a close game again,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said after the win. “It’s our third game in a row to be close like this. Hats off to West Virginia because I thought they were just incredible and shot the ball really well. I’m really proud of the response that we had in that third quarter and the way we just answered the call.”
The Sooners dug themselves into a halftime hole, as they did when facing WVU in Morgantown, and entered the break down 37-31. The Mountaineers took control of the game in the third quarter off an 11-2 run, claiming a 48-36 lead at the 6:16 mark of the period. The Sooners stormed back behind a 21-11 to close the period as a Kelbie Washington (Choctaw) layup with 11 seconds left in the quarter tied the game at 59.
Oklahoma trailed 77-70 with under three minutes remaining in regulation. Madi Williams laid it in for two, and Taylor Robertson then sunk one of her seven 3-pointers to cut the deficit to two. Then, down three points with 18 seconds left, Robertson lined up to take a 3-pointer to tie the game and drew a foul. The senior, who is the nation’s active leader in free-throw percentage at 92.9% for her career, promptly sunk all three attempts to tie the game. A’riana Gray missed a trey as time expired, and the Sooners entered overtime for the second time this season.
WVU opened an 86-81 lead at the 2:34 mark of the first OT period before the Sooners clawed back into the game once again behind free throws from Liz Scott and Nevaeh Tot. West Virginia’s Jayla Hemingway drilled a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left, and Robertson answered with her sixth three of the night to force a second session of free basketball.
In the second overtime period, the Sooners took a leadoff a Tot layup nine seconds into the frame and never looked back. The OU lead grew to five behind Robertson and Williams’ treys before WVU tied the game with 32 seconds left. In the waning seconds of the contest, with the game tied at 99, Madi Williams drove the lane, fought through contact and delivered Oklahoma a game-winner for the third consecutive game. Kennady Tucker poked the ball free on West Virginia’s final possession putting Oklahoma’s 20th win on ice, 101-99.
OU’s 101 points are the second-most ever in a Big 12 game, trailing only a 102-point outburst vs. Colorado in 2001. It’s the second time this season that Oklahoma has hit triple digits in Big 12 play, scoring 100 vs. TCU in January. The Sooners’ 20-3 start is its best since the 2008-09 Final Four team started 24-2. The 2001-02 Final Four team that will be recognized at the Lloyd Noble Center on Feb. 26 opened 22-2. Those two teams are the only squads in program history to hit 20 wins faster than the 2022 Sooners. Oklahoma now has 20 wins in a season for the 22nd time in program history and for the first time since 2016-17.
Oklahoma forced 20 steals on 33 West Virginia turnovers, hitting the 20-steal mark for the first time since it finished with 21 vs. UAPB on Dec. 29, 2010. The Sooners hit 13 3-pointers on 28 attempts, crossing double-digit treys for a Big 12-best 12th time this year.
Saturday’s double-overtime game marked OU’s first since it knocked off the Mountaineers 90-87 in Norman on Feb. 7, 2017 in 2OT. The win pushes the Sooners to 9-2 in conference play, its best start since 2014-15 as the team remains in a tie with Iowa State (20-3, 9-2) atop the league standings. Oklahoma has won its last three games, two vs. top-10 opponents, by a combined five points.
Robertson finished with a game-high 26 points on an 8-of-17 shooting performance that featured seven 3-pointers. Williams poured in 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win. Kelbie Washington, the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week, added a career-high 17 points while dishing out seven assists and corralling four steals. Skylar Vann added 14 points at a 50% clip off the bench, helping to fuel OU’s third-quarter run.
