SPOKANE, Wash. — The crowd at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena roared.
With a little more than three minutes remaining in Saturday’s matchup between the third-seeded OU women’s basketball team and second-seeded UConn, Huskies star Paige Bueckers had given the crowd what they wanted.
Bueckers overwhelmed the Sooners, finishing with a career-high 40 points, as OU’s season ended with a 82-59 loss to the Huskies in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners’ season ends 27-8, their most wins in a season since the 2010 Final Four team also won 27.
After OU led by four at halftime, thanks to Payton Verhulst’s 13-point second quarter, the Huskies dominated the second half.
They outscored the Sooners 27-10 in the third quarter to take control and didn’t much look back until the outcome was decided.
Verhulst led the Sooners with 16 points.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Sooners’ loss:
Paige Bueckers hits career high
Bueckers lunged forward and then took a step back.
It was over.
OU freshman Zya Vann tried to recover and close ground, but Bueckers had created all the space she needed, hitting a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to put UConn up 62-46.
The Sooners tried a number of different options for defending Bueckers.
They used Reyna Scott, Sahara Williams and Vann on Bueckers among other approaches.
But the All-American and likely No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft shook off most all of them.
Bueckers finished 16-of-27 shooting, going 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.
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