Game 7: Gophers v Oklahoma (11-22-21)


Oklahoma is playing really well. Beat South Dakota on the road, took Oregon to the wire yesterday and smoked a pretty good Buffalo team today. They are gonna bomb away from deep, should be a fun game, Gophers need to defend the 3 tommorrow.
 


Taylor Robertson started slow.

Coming off a 29-point performance in the Sooners’ upset bid against No. 9 Oregon that came up just short, Robertson finished the first quarter of Oklahoma’s game against Buffalo on Sunday night with zero points, going 0-for-3 from the 3-point line. The senior guard doesn’t care about previous misses, though.

“I'm never really thinking about my last shot,” Robertson said. “If I start getting on a roll, I'm always thinking about the next shot, whether the first shot goes in or misses. Even though it was a slow start by my shooting, I just kept thinking ‘next shot, next shot’ and eventually, it'll go in.”

Eventually it did go in, nine times to be exact. Robertson scored a game-high 27 points while tying her career high and the OU program record for 3-pointers made in a single game. The senior guard finished the night 9-for-23 from behind the 3-point line.

Thanks to Robertson’s shooting, the Sooners (4-1) dominated Buffalo (1-2) 93-72 on the second day of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Oklahoma did so by raining triples from everywhere on the court, attempting a school record 41 3-pointers and cashing in on 15. Forty-five of the Sooners’ 93 points came from behind the arc.

“What a great team effort,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “I thought we had some great energy. … My favorite stat on the whole sheet is the 29 assists. I love that we're playing together and having fun. I think today, especially after a hard day yesterday, being able to step on the floor and completely separate one day to the next shows a lot about the maturity of this team. I was really proud of that.”

The assists came in bunches, as Branczyk mentioned. Many came off Robertson’s teammates trying to set her up for open looks, showcasing their prowess at finding and feeding the hot hand. Freshman guard Kelbie Washington led the team with seven assists, while senior forward Madi Williams dished five.

“We just assume that it’s going in,” Williams said of Robertson’s shots. “T-Rob is the best shooter in the nation. She's got the green light. I trust that everything she shoots is going in. I mean, I thought all 23 were going in today.”

That’s high praise from Williams, who had an impressive night herself. The senior forward ended the game with a double-double, contributing 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

The last piece of the Sooners' three-headed scoring attack, senior guard Ana Llanusa, added 16 points in 26 minutes. After playing the Ducks close on Saturday, OU pushed through and rebounded from a tough loss.


“I don't think it was too hard to bounce back,” Llanusa said. “I just think we're looking for wins. I'm just excited to play the next game. That loss yesterday, that sucked. But we were ready to play and just move on and get a win. We got an opportunity to play today and made the most of it.”

The Sooners came out struggling to shoot the ball and found themselves trailing after the first quarter. From the second quarter on, it was as if a switch had flipped, as OU was passing the ball fluidly, leading to wide-open 3-pointers.

The ball movement and fast pace led Oklahoma to out-scoring the Bulls 30-16 in the second quarter and never looked back. Robertson drilled five of her nine three pointers in the second half, as the Sooners poured in 48 points across the final two quarters.

Robertson’s sharpshooting is nothing new. She already holds the program record for 3-pointers made in a season with 131, and ranks second all-time in program history for career 3-point makes with 339.

The postgame exchange between OU’s three seniors and Baranczyk reveals all that’s needed to understand the confidence Robertson’s team has in her:

“Madi, when you see Taylor shoot the ball, do you think it’s going to go in?”, Baranczyk questioned.

“Yes,” Williams replied.

“I used to get in trouble all the time for throwing it to T-Rob and just running back the other way,” Llanusa added.

“She still does,” Baranczyk joked.

Oklahoma caps its trip to the Bahamas against Minnesota at 4 p.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 22. The Gophers lost their first game to No. 2 Connecticut and won their second round matchup against Syracuse.
 

Lindsay could make money in any walk of life. If she can get some of her to rub off on the players, sky is the limit. Time to smoke fools, knock out chumps, and light up idiots.
 

Sounds like we are shooting ourselves in the foot with turnovers again. Ugh.
 


Wow this team cannot shoot, and stupid TO’s killing them early. Whalen has to be pulling her hair out that her team doesn’t get back on defense.
 

Micheaux (can we agree to call her that, since it's a name that actually appears on her bio and in box scores?) has three fouls in seven minutes?
 

Good job getting back in this game, that stretch of turnovers was brutal. Just so many layups off it. Game is there for the taking if they can take care of the ball and knock down some shots.
 




You can't get outrebounded like this and expect to win.
 

The over/under on Whalen saying “give them credit” during the postgame radio interview is set at 2.5. Place your bets.

I’d do one on “umm”’s but it’s too challenging to try to count them all.
 

I thought going into the season this would be. NCAA team but I don’t think it’s in the cards. Too many unforced TO’s, at times they play like inexperienced freshman. Kadi cannot get out of her own way.
 

The over/under on Whalen saying “give them credit” during the postgame radio interview is set at 2.5. Place your bets.

I’d do one on “umm”’s but it’s too challenging to try to count them all.
My final tally was 3 for “give them credit”. The over wins the bet.
 



I thought going into the season this would be. NCAA team but I don’t think it’s in the cards. Too many unforced TO’s, at times they play like inexperienced freshman. Kadi cannot get out of her own way.
When Kadi is good this team can be really good but when shes not this team struggles. Shes such a difference maker.
 

at some point have to get more then 2 players going at once..

yesterday we had 3 in Scalia, Winters and Kadi.. but then today it was Winters and JP.. good to see Diva score 11 off the bench, maybe this will get her going..

kind of crazy but Deja Winters might be our BEST player right now.. or 1b right next to Kadi.

we HAVE to figure out our post production.. still amazed that somehow Bailey doesn't just get a O-board and lay it back up..
 


Not the greatest of games for Kadi and Scalia. Can't afford to have two of your top players struggle like they did against a quality opponent.
 



The over/under on Whalen saying “give them credit” during the postgame radio interview is set at 2.5. Place your bets.

I’d do one on “umm”’s but it’s too challenging to try to count them all.
She’s a pathetic communicator
 

This team has shooters but rarely they get the ball at the right time, the timing is off and that is a function of a pass first PG vs an open floor take it to the basket PG. Jazz is a dynamic player, but the more success she has in a game the more room the coaches give her to make not so good decisions. There still seems to be a lot of standing on O. If they go with a small lineup, why not have a motion offense to give those guards an opportunity to drive and kick like what Oklahoma does, their coach is a brilliant offensive minded coach. It is only her first year, but you can already see her offensive philosophy working at Oklahoma and they aren't even her recruits.. Her team was so prepared to defend our walk it up, half court offense. I feel like our offense is old school basketball, where it worked in the old days because scouting was done in person vs today video is abundant. It has a hard time working because one player moves at a time and can be easily scouted and defended.
Smith should be a 3, getting back up minutes until her game evolves, not being a decision maker in a heavy PG offense.
This team can be good and may surprise in conf play, I like Deja in the starting lineup, but we need to continue to tweak offense and defense until it clicks.
 




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