South Carolina’s shocking OT loss to No. 16 Oklahoma marks 2nd upset of season

South Carolina women’s basketball went into its matchup with No. 16 Oklahoma with the No. 2 seed and a competitive advantage. However, the Sooners were the ones who broke their three-game losing streak with a 94-82 overtime win over the Gamecocks at home.

“We ran into a team that actually wanted to win more, and they made winning plays. And we didn’t,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the game.

“We didn’t do enough to win, and when you do that in our league, especially on the road, you pay for it. It’s not familiar territory for us, but our goals are still in front of us, every single one of them. We’ll live, we’ll learn, we’ll move on,” Staley added.

Oklahoma, which earned its third-ever victory over a number-two program after previously beating Kansas State in 2024 and Texas in 2004, was bouncing back from three SEC defeats in a row to Ole Miss, Kentucky, and LSU. Sooners head coach Jennie Baranczyk told her team, “We’re f—ing back!” when the win was final, which she further explained following the contest.

“What I meant by that was not, ‘We’re back, take notice,’ but that we’re back to who we are,” Baranczyk said. “This has been a hard, hard, hard two weeks that [have] felt like two months. It’s been challenging, and we’ve had hard conversations and way more tears than ever. So when I say, ‘We’re back!’ … that’s what I mean. It’s not that I’m trash-talking.

“I saw our energy back,” Baranczyk said. “Aaliyah, especially in that overtime, I thought she was just like, ‘Let’s go!’ The joy she played with and the energy she played with … everybody on her team knows that’s in her.”

Baranczyk was referring to freshman standout Aaliyah Chavez, who led Oklahoma with 26 total points and put the team on her back in the extra period with 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting. However, Chavez shared the credit with her teammates, with Raegan Beers putting up an 18-point, 14-board double-double and Payton Verhulst adding 19 tallies.

“It was big on my teammates, because they kept on telling me to keep on shooting,” said Chavez, who also had eight assists. “Just knowing they trusted me brought my confidence up.”

Despite Tessa Johnson’s 19 points, last year’s national leading scorer Ta’Niya Latson was held to just six points on 1-of-10 shooting, and South Carolina was outrebounded by a 54-39 margin. The Gamecocks have another challenge ahead as they attempt to hand No. 5 Vanderbilt its first loss of the season.

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