Raegan Beers starred again as Oklahoma continued its perfect start to the season.
The No. 9-ranked Sooners dominated the Western Carolina Catamounts 122-56 on Field Trip Day at the Lloyd Noble Center to move to 3-0 on Wednesday.
Oklahoma’s 122-point outing set a new program record for points scored in a game.
OU dominated from the onset, opening up a 16-point lead by the end of the first quarter, and the hosts never looked back.
Beers finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, Skylar Vann added 15 points and Sahara Williams finished with 16 points and three rebounds.
Here are Sooners on SI’s three takeaways from the dominant win:
Beers was always going to add another element to Oklahoma’s roster, but her presence has helped OU’s bench.
Lexy Keys, who started all 33 games last year for the Sooners after transferring from Oklahoma State, is now Jennie Baranczyk’s first option off the bench. The veteran guard is perfectly suited to keep the Sooners playing with great pace, and she ensures the ball doesn’t stick around the perimeter as the second unit players start to mix in with the starters.
Keys was also perfect from the field on Wednesday, scoring 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, and she adds a dynamic scoring threat after leading the team with 57 3-pointers last year.
Liz Scott, who is back in the lineup after getting sidelined last year with a shoulder injury, ensures there is no drop-off in toughness off the bench, either.
Baranczyk has never been afraid of playing a large rotation, but she has more quality then ever top-to-bottom in her fourth year in Norman.
Between Beers, Scott and Beatrice Culliton, the Sooners did an excellent job of walling off the paint on the defensive end of the floor.
Western Carolina simply couldn’t overcome the size mismatch, allowing OU to outscore the Catamounts 68-8 in the paint.
Baranczyk’s team didn’t just need to slow down and feed the post to dominate the paint, either.
Oklahoma got downhill in the halfcourt and turned 15 Catamount turnovers into 31 points on the other end, a majority of which came in the form of easy layups.
If OU can carry its excellent defensive showings from the first three non-conference games into SEC play, the Sooners will likely enjoy success most nights in their new conference.
Through the first two games, Oklahoma shot a dismal 16.7 percent from deep.
Baranczyk was pleased with the quality of the shots in each of the first two games, which in turn gave her confidence that the shots would start to fall.
Her team backed up those claims on Wednesday morning.
OU caught fire from deep, knocking down 10-of-18 3-pointers.
Though the Sooners aren’t going to shoot 56 percent from beyond the arc all year, it was a welcome return to normal service for Oklahoma’s offense.
The Sooners will look to move to 4-0 next Tuesday when they travel to take on the Wichita State Shockers at 6 p.m.
