Things were looking up for Oklahoma at halftime on Saturday, The Sooners led Connecticut by four points after two quarters, and they were 20 minutes away from a trip to the Elite Eight.
Instead, the Huskies proved to be too much. The Sooners scored just 23 points in the second half, and UCONN's Paige Bueckers overwhelmed them defensively as the Huskies outscored them by 27 points in the second half.
The result? Oklahoma's season came up to an end with an 82-59 loss to Connecticut in the Sweet 16.
The main issue for the Sooners was ball control. They coughed the ball up 23 times in the game, which led to 18 points for the Huskies. The Sooners scored five points off of 10 UCONN turnovers.
Despite the turnover issues — the Sooners had 13 in the first half — they still led 36-32 in the first half. The Sooners leaned on their defense, as the Huskies shot just 29% in the first half and Bueckers went scoreless in the second quarter. Offensively, Payton Verhulst powered the Sooners with 13 second-quarter points.
But the Huskies came roaring out of the second half, and they took a big lead on a 16-0 run in the third quarter. The Sooners turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter and shot just 4-of-14 from the field.
The Sooners trailed by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter and never found their rhythm.
Verhulst led the Sooners with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Sahara Williams and Reagan Beers each had 10 points. Bueckers led the Huskies with 40 points on 16-of-27 shooting.
The Sooners end their season with a 27-8 record.
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