Payton Verhulst - Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a great start this season, establishing themselves as championship contenders. The Sooners are starting their first year in the SEC ranked ninth in the nation at 11-1. Although the competition is tougher for Oklahoma, it is built to take on any challenge. With new additions and a further developed roster, the Sooners are ready to contend for a conference and national title.
Oklahoma is led by its stars Raegan Beers (RAY-Gun) and Payton Verhulst. Beers is averaging 17.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 70.6% from the field. She also shoots 40% from three-point land, averaging a career-high 0.8 attempts per game. After her stellar career at Oregon State, Beers transferred to Oklahoma ready to face the tough competition in the SEC. Verhulst is demonstrating her two-way abilities, averaging 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. The talent surrounding her seems to improve her shooting numbers, as she has career-high shooting splits of 45.1/41.5/85.2%. A player who has stepped up to aid the Sooners in their success is Sahara Williams. The sophomore is averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game this season. One senior who performs well despite her inconsistent playing time is Skylar Vann. She is averaging 11.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 22.8 minutes per game, but her minutes seem to be dependent on the matchup. Oklahoma has faced three top-25 teams in the non-conference portion of their schedule, and Vann is relied upon more in those matchups. As they compete to win the SEC against many similar teams, she will have to step up as the season progresses.
The Sooners have faced tough competition to start the season, which should prepare them for their new conference and the NCAA Tournament. Their non-conference opponents consisted of three teams in the top 25, and they’ve been able to rise to the challenge. Most recently Oklahoma beat 20th-ranked Michigan 72-62, in a defensive battle. In that victory, Verhulst added 12 points to go with her three steals and two blocks on defense. The Sooners lone loss came against the Duke Blue Devils in the Ball Dawgs Classic, 109-99 after Overtime. Despite the result, Verhulst finished with her first career triple-double, scoring 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. She also made the game-tying shot to force overtime in the closing seconds of the contest. Before the game, Beers, who finished with 26 points, spoke about preparing for their new conference and competing for a championship.
“Carrying my experience from the Pac-12 and getting to see good teams night in and night out and we have Big-12 champions in the house." Beers said. "They have that experience that they know how to win against really good teams.”
The experience on this Sooners team will separate themselves among the other contenders, to go along with their talented roster. Oklahoma’s Head Coach Jennie Baranczyk (Bah-RON-Check) was also asked about preparing for a new conference, and she mentioned taking advantage of the tests a non-conference schedule provides.
“You do the best that you can to test your team as much as you possibly can before conference play, then you’re going to be tested the entire time during conference play, so you just have to be ready.” As the Sooners take on a tough challenge in the SEC, they’ll hope to turn their experience into a lot more wins.
Oklahoma has a lot of challenges ahead with the likes of fifth-ranked LSU, second-ranked South Carolina, sixth-ranked Texas, and more ready to do battle. Every win the Sooners get in a tough conference will further prove they will be a team to make a deep run in March Madness.