No. 4 Oklahoma races past Idaho women 89-59 in NCAA Tournament opener
NORMAN, Okla. – Arthur Moreira recalled a turning point for women’s basketball at Idaho. The Vandals had just lost to Montana State by 33 points, a game Moreira said he’ll never forget because “it was awful and we got our butts kicked.”
“The season could have gone two ways,” he said following 13th-seeded Idaho’s 89-59 loss to No. 4 seed Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday inside Lloyd Noble Center. “We could have been the middle of the pack Big Sky team, but these girls locked in and worked hard. They cared and won 18 games in a row; won two championships, regular-season championship and a conference tournament championship.
“So I don’t think this game takes it away from us, you know. With that said, they’re a really good basketball team. I mean, they beat South Carolina two weeks ago. They’re a top-10 team in the country for a reason. They made the Sweet 16 last year. We knew it was going to be an uphill battle. It’s almost those types of games you have to play perfect to pull off an upset, and we fell a little short.”
The Big Sky’s best team struggled to find its rhythm against No. 4 seed Oklahoma, which dominated every offensive category in a lopsided win to open NCAA Tournament play.
Kyra Gardner scored 19 points and Hope Hassmann added 12 points to lead Idaho (29-6), which made 20 of 81 field goals (25%) and 10 of 46 3-point attempts (22%).
“Yeah, kind of echoing Arthur, we did something that Idaho has never done before,” Hassmann said. “We broke so many records. I’m so happy to be a part of the team with so many special girls. I’m also excited to come back next year knowing we set a standard for Idaho basketball. This is our goal that we’re going to strive for every single year and continue to break more records in the future.”
Idaho’s 18-game win streak was the best in program history, but Oklahoma, a 341/2-point favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, controlled the game from start to finish
The Sooners led 27-19 after one quarter and 57-35 at halftime.
It got worse from there.
The Vandals took 11 3-point shots in the third quarter, missed all of them and got outscored 19-3. Oklahoma’s lead grew to 76-38.
“We came out flat in the third quarter. We weren’t making shots,” Moreira said. “They’re just so good and so athletic and so long it was hard for us to beat them off the dribble. When we’re not shooting well we have our post players that we can give the ball to. Our post players are really dominant in the Big Sky. It’s a little different when you go against Raegan Beers.”
Beers and Sahara Williams did the bulk of the damage for Oklahoma (25-7), which will play No. 5 seed Michigan State in the second round on Sunday. The Spartans held on to beat No. 12 seed Colorado State in the other game Friday.
Beers, a first-team All-SEC center, had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Williams added 17 points and 10 boards. Oklahoma outrebounded Idaho 55-44 and outscored the Vandals 38-14 in the paint.
Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk was complimentary of the Vandals.
“Well, let’s be honest, Idaho is a good offensive team and you could see it,” she said. “Their movement is good. They’ve got obviously some talented players and their game plan was to shoot the 3 a lot.”
“I mean, I’m really proud of our group,” Moreira said. “You know, the season that we just had and how hard these girls battle, I mean, they’re just a joy to work with every single day. When you play a team at this level, it’s hard. We’ll learn from it, we’ll be better next year.”