Oklahoma Women's Basketball Rolls Past Morgan State in Home Opener

NORMAN, Okla. - No. 21 Oklahoma did not need drama for the home opener. The Sooners just needed a clean day, and they got one.

Oklahoma beat Morgan State 95-38 on Sunday at Lloyd Noble Center, improving to 2-0 with the kind of home statement Jennie Baranczyk’s teams have made a habit of.

The Sooners scored on the opening possession, never trailed, and turned the afternoon into a full-court squeeze once the first quarter started leaning their way. By the end of the first, it was already 28-11 after a 16-0 closing run. By halftime, 42-21. After that, Morgan State spent the rest of the day trying to survive the next wave.

The biggest individual story was freshman LeeLee Bell again. One week after dropping 25 on No. 12 North Carolina in Paris, Bell posted her first career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. She also added four steals.

That is not a soft box score in a blowout. That is a freshman playing like she expects to matter every night.

Bell is the first Sooner freshman since Taylor Robertson in 2018-19 to open a career with back-to-back 20-point games, and the first Oklahoma player since Teresa Schuknecht in 2002 to put up at least 20 points, 12 rebounds, and four steals in the same game. For a player who just made history in her debut, the encore was just as loud.

Sa’Myah Smith was just as efficient off the bench with 18 points and nine rebounds in only 20 minutes. She went 8 of 9 from the field and finished plus-21. Sina Hollerl added 13 points off the bench and knocked down three threes. Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu grabbed 11 rebounds. The attack was balanced enough that nine Sooners made multiple field goals and eight scored at least five points.

When Oklahoma plays like that, the lead stops being fragile pretty quickly.

The absence of Aaliyah Chavez was the one unsettled note. Caya Smith made her first career start in Chavez’s place and finished with four points, five rebounds, and four assists in 21 minutes. After the game, Baranczyk called Chavez day-to-day.

Just earlier in the week, Chavez was the only underclassmen named to the Wade Trophy Watch List, so the injury will certainly be something to monitor. Oklahoma clearly has enough depth to handle a Morgan State game without her. The standard gets higher from here.

Defensively, the Sooners were borderline rude. Morgan State shot 23.5 percent from the field, turned it over 24 times, and got out-rebounded 58-23. Oklahoma scored 31 points off those turnovers and closed on a 22-4 run for the final margin. The 57-point win was the program’s largest in a home opener since 2011 and the third-largest in home-opener history. It also extended OU’s winning streak against unranked opponents to 33 games and kept Baranczyk perfect in home openers at 6-0.

Keziah Lofton quietly had one of the cleaner supporting lines of the afternoon with eight points and seven assists without a turnover. That kind of control matters when the starters are rotating freely and the lead is already out of hand. Oklahoma has now won 24 straight when leading at half under Baranczyk and sits at 93-6 when scoring at least 80 in her era.

Those are not accidental numbers. They are what this program looks like when it plays with pace and physicality at home.

UP NEXT: The Sooners are back in action this week, as they host San Jose State on Tuesday at 6 p.m., in a game with a couple familiar connections. Spartans coach Jonas Chatterton is a former Baranczyk assistant, Sooners' Men's Basketball head coach Porter Moser's daughter, Jordan, is on that staff as well.

Oklahoma will be heavy favorites again. The more important questions are whether Chavez is available and whether the Sooners keep the same edge after a 57-point home opener.

If Bell keeps playing like this and the depth stays productive, the early standard is already pretty clear.