The Oklahoma Sooners Women’s Basketball squad opens up their season in just a few days, when they host Belmont. Coming off of a Sweet 16 appearance last March, this upcoming year is shaping up to be the most-anticipated Sooners Women’s Basketball season in quite some time. 

Sooners head coach Jennie Baranczyk is clearly a rising star in the coaching ranks. Baranczyk came into the SEC with a stacked resume, which included five regular season conference titles, going back-to-back in the Sooners’ last two seasons in the Big 12.

Although Baranczyk’s squad did not take home the SEC regular season title in their first season in the league, the tough conference slate made the Sooners to be battle-tested. Oklahoma’s Sweet 16 run was the farthest that any Baranczyk-coached team has gone in the NCAA Tournament.

Entering the 2025-2026 campaign, expectations are high for the Sooners. The Preseason AP Top 25 Women's Basketball had Oklahoma ranked in the No. 6 spot, just behind some heavyweights in defending national champion UConn at No. 1, followed by South Carolina, UCLA, Texas, and LSU.

The No. 6 ranking is the Sooners’ highest preseason mark since 2009–10. Oklahoma was picked fourth in the SEC by the league's 16 coaches and returned the conference's second-highest scoring percentage at 62.3%.

Sooners fans should enjoy Baranczyk’s squad this season. Not only should they be one of the top teams in America and the SEC, but they also play a wide open and uptempo fun brand of basketball.

What To Watch For

1. Raegan Beers

The Sooners’ core begins with forward Raegan Beers. Beers was a first-team All-SEC selection last season, as well as a third-team All-American. Beers, who transferred in last season from Oregon State, was a force in multiple ways, averaging 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds in his first season with the Sooners.

2. Payton Verhulst

Redshirt senior guard Payton Verhulst is back off of a stellar campaign from last season. Verhulst began her career at Louisville, but has found her footing with the Sooners. She was an All-SEC second team selection last season, and was an All-Big 12 first-team selection the year prior.

Last year, she averaged a career-high 14.9 points per game, shooting 42% from the field and 35% from deep. She was one of only two players nationally to average at least 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists in under 30 minutes per game.

3. Aaliyah Chavez

There’s a ton of excitement about the addition of the top freshman in the country, Aaliyah Chavez. The five-star recruit was named the Gatorade, Naismith, and MaxPreps National Player of the Year last season. She averaged 34.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.7 steals per game and finished her four-year high school career with 4,796 points. Chavez’s resume continues to build. She was also a 2025 McDonald's All-American, and selected to represent the United States at the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit.

Notable Non-Conference Matchups

11/10: vs. UCLA (Sacramento)

12/3: vs. NC State (SEC/ACC Challenge)

12/13: vs. Oklahoma State (Oklahoma City)

Notable Conference Matchups

1/18: vs. LSU

1/22: vs. South Carolina

2/1: at Texas

2/22: vs. Tennessee

Prediction: 25-4 Overall, 13-3 SEC

Baranczyk is clearly building something special in Norman, and if this team stays healthy, they can make a deep-run in March to the Final Four. If Chavez is the player we think she is, watch out, this Sooners team could be lethal.