Sweet victory: Sooners beat Iowa, advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2013

“I feel like I’m watching tennis.” That is how an Iowa media member next to me described the speed of the second-round tournament game between the Sooners and Hawkeyes. From the jump, both teams displayed top-tier tempo in front of an impressively passionate crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners rewarded the crimson and cream crowd, building a double-digit lead and never relenting, eventually winning 96-62. The win sends the Sooners to Spokane for their first Sweet 16 appearance in a dozen years. 

The volume in the arena picked up at the end of the first quarter when the Sooners went on a 10-0 run that eventually turned into an 18-1 run by the start of the second quarter. 

OU’s Sahara Williams, an Iowa native, looked like she had something to prove. The sophomore had 8 points in the first quarter, and 13 points with 7 boards by halftime. 

The Hawkeyes fought hard to erase an 11-point halftime deficit, but back-to-back threes by Liz Scott and Payton Verhulst put the Sooners up 17. Skylar Vann eventually hit a three to put OU up 20 in the third. 

As the lead was building and the crowd noise became suffocating, frustrations on the Iowa bench boiled over into a technical foul on Iowa Head Coach Jan Jensen. “OU” chants ensued. 

This marks OU’s first trip to the Sweet 16 under Jennie Baranczyk. The Sooners will play the winner of #1 UCONN vs #10 South Dakota State.