Sahara Williams Helps No. 8 Oklahoma Rout East Texas A&M

NORMAN — Oklahoma poured it on East Texas A&M on Wednesday night.

The eighth-ranked Sooners women’s basketball team started off hot offensively and mostly kept going on that end of the floor, beating the Lions 112-59 at Lloyd Noble Center.

It was the most points posted by OU since beating Western Carolina 122-56 last Nov. 13 at home.

Raegan Beers especially praised Williams Sahara Williams added 22 and Payton Verhulst 17. Each added 10 or more rebounds, giving OU three players with double-doubles for the first time since 2022.

Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk especially praised Williams.

"She's really elevated probably the last three games," Baranczyk said. "You can see her really trying to be a complete player. Obviously we know that she's guarded but it's less about offense. ... She's trying hard to get Raegan the ball, she's trying hard to get Aaliyah(Chavez) open, she's trying hard to get Payton open, That's the player you have to have on the floor. She's making it really hard for us to not have her on the floor."

Oklahoma shot 53.6% from the field and had 32 assists on 45 field goals, tying a Lloyd Noble Center record for assists in a game.

The Sooners led by as many as 17 in the first quarter behind 11 early points from Verhulst.

Oklahoma stretched that lead to 26 early in the second before a cold snap from the field tightened the game only slightly.

OU (5-1) has won four consecutive games since a loss to UCLA on Nov. 10.

After a frenetic early schedule that included travel to both sides of the country, the Sooners now get a bit of time between games, next playing Nov. 28 against Coppin State in the Coconut Hoops Classic in Fort Myers, Florida.

Oklahoma’s next home game is Dec. 3 against No. 16 North Carolina State.

Here are three quick takeaways from the Sooners’ win over East Texas A&M:

Read More Oklahoma Women's Basketball

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• Oklahoma's Jennie Baranczyk Continues to Raise Expectations for Sooners

Sooners Dominate the Boards

After Oklahoma’s last home game, an 89-61 win over North Alabama last week, Baranczyk said he hoped her team would attack the glass better coming out of the gate.

It certainly looked like the message was received.

Oklahoma outrebounded East Texas A&M 65-39 with three players — Williams (11), Verhulst (10) and Beers (10) finishing in double digits in the category.

The Sooners pulled down 21 offensive rebounds and scored 24 second-chance points.

Caya Smith, Keziah Lofton Making Big Strides

Baranczyk credited reserves Caya Smith and Keziah Lofton with setting the tone defensively.

Smith had five steals, giving her 13 over the last three games.

Lofton, a freshman, finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

"I think they have really stepped up in that capacity," Baranczyk said. "I think they've provided a lot of defense for us, I think they've gained a little more experience, and I think you're starting to see them be a little more comfortable."

The Sooners forced 20 turnovers, with 18 of them created by steals.

"She's just getting better and better," Baranczyk said of Lofton. "I think her guarding is just continuing to elevate and we need that. I think that goes for Caya as well. I think they both are really starting to see what this team needs and that's what they need to be able to do and they're creating points because of it."

Beers said Williams has been a key piece in helping guide Smith and Lofton, and said she's seen a big difference in both recently.

"They've done a phenomenal job of just wanting to learn and soaking up all the knowledge that they can, whether it's in the few practices that we've had in the past 10 days, the quick turnarounds that they've had," Beers said. "They've done a phenomenal job of trying to understand the different reads that we have defensively and what screen coverages are going to change every single game and how do we do that and communicate through all of that."

Aaliyah Chavez Struggles

While the Sooners were hot from the field for the most part, making 20 of their first 32 shots, there was a couple of exceptions.

Chavez had a rough day from the field, finishing just 4 of 15 from the floor and 1 of 8 from beyond the arc.

She finished with nine points, six assists and six turnovers.

Chavez made just one of her first eight shots and never found a rhythm offensively.

It was the first time this season that Chavez had been held in single digits scoring. She was also 1 of 8 on 3-pointers in the season-opening win over Belmont.

Sophomore Zya Vann finished just 3 of 11 from the field but had five assists.

"Even when you don't have a good shooting night, the two of them still had 11 assists," Baranczyk said. "Obviously we'd like to have some of those turnovers back. ... To be able to still have production in ways when you've got to get the ball in certain places, to me, that's impressive for two young guards when you're maybe not shooting as well as you want to be able to shoot."