NORMAN. Okla. (AP) — The scoreboard operator likely will be busy when Oklahoma and Michigan State meet in a second-round women’s NCAA Tournament game on Sunday.
Fourth-seeded Oklahoma averages 86.8 points per game and fifth-seeded Michigan State averages 82.5. Those totals were third and 11th in the nation, respectively, after Friday’s games.
Oklahoma wore Idaho out with its frantic pace during an 89-59 victory in the first round on Friday. It’s the way the Sooners have played all season — having scored at least 100 points seven times.
“It’s going to be really up-and-down,” Michigan State center Grace VanSlooten said. “They’re not the type of team who uses most of the shot clock.”
Michigan State won its first-round game in an uncharacteristic manner. Colorado State slowed the tempo, but the Spartans still pulled out a 65-62 win.
“Got to kind of flip our brain from yesterday to tomorrow,” VanSlooten said. “Yeah, they’re (Oklahoma) a great team, super physical, and it’s going to be a really competitive and big game.”
Usually, the Spartans push the pace more and spread the shot opportunities out. Five Spartans — VanSlooten, Kennedy Blair, Rashunda Jones, Jalyn Brown and Theryn Hallock — all average double figures.
“They’re just a really well-balanced team,” Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “They move so well on the offensive end, and they share the basketball. They play a ton of ball screens. They get up and down in transition. They do multiple things in transition. They can shoot the three.”
Oklahoma is balanced, too. Freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez leads the team with 18.3 points per game. Four other Sooners — Raegan Beers, Sahara Williams, Payton Verhulst and Zya Vann — average at least 10.5 points.
Spartans seek return to glory
While Oklahoma is trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the second straight year, Michigan State hasn’t been that far since 2009.
Michigan State coach Robyn Fralick said she often has reminded the team of the opportunities they have throughout the season.
“You can lose track of that, especially in a really challenging Big Ten schedule and the NCAA Tournament because the task at hand is still a great challenge,” she said. “We know that. We know the history. We know the tradition. We know the opportunity ahead of us, and we know the challenge.”
Familiar posts face off
Beers and VanSlooten go way back.
Both centers were McDonald’s All-Americans. They played against each other when Beers was at Oregon State and VanSlooten was at Oregon. Both were on the USA AmeriCup team that won gold last year.
Now, they’ll meet again.
The 6-foot-4 Beers averages 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game on 61.6% shooting from the field. The 6-3 VanSlooten averages 15.1 points and 6.7 rebounds on 50.1% shooting.
Beers is a powerhouse while VanSlooten is crafty and quick.
“They’re so different, and yet, they both impact the game so greatly, especially for their respective teams,” Baranczyk said. “You know, we are a much better team with Raegan Beers on the floor, and they’re a much better team with Grace VanSlooten on the floor.”
Freshman guard seeks another veteran-like performance
Chavez showed no nerves in her NCAA Tournament debut.
The freshman had 15 points and five assists with no turnovers and pushed the pace to near perfection against Idaho.
She’ll likely need a similar performance to lead the Sooners past Michigan State and into the Sweet 16.
“Obviously seeing last night how everybody was able to get involved, everybody was able to get different looks, easy looks,” Verhulst said. “I think that’s something — when we do that, we’re really good.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
