Raegan Beers dominates the paint and Aaliyah Chavez facilitated the offense as the Sooners battled past Michigan State, punching their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen
NORMAN, Okla. — Raegan Beers delivered a dominant performance with 18 points and 14 rebounds as the No. 4 seed Oklahoma Sooners defeated the No. 5 seed Michigan State Spartans 77-71 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
The victory propelled Oklahoma into the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year and kept the program's momentum rolling under head coach Jennie Baranczyk.
Raegan Beers, the 6-foot-4 senior center, asserted herself in the paint despite Michigan State's size advantage. She shot 7-of-11 from the field, added four steals and two blocks, and consistently used her strength and positioning to control rebounds and disrupt the Spartans' interior offense.
Aaliyah Chavez matched Beers with 18 points, while also dishing out six assists and grabbing five rebounds. Chavez showed growth throughout the game, overcoming early nerves to become a key facilitator.
Baranczyk highlighted this progress: “You could see her come out and press a little bit, and then you saw her settle in and be able to get the ball, to a point that she’s -- what you guys don’t see is, she’s play calling for other people.”
In their two NCAA Tournament wins combined, Chavez recorded 11 assists and just one turnover, underscoring her composure in high-stakes moments.
For Oklahoma's veterans, reaching this stage is no longer a surprise, it's the standard.
Senior guard Payton Verhulst captured the team's mindset perfectly: “I think for us, this is our expectation now. Like, this is our bar. Obviously, we made the Sweet Sixteen last year, and our season didn’t end the way we wanted going from there. So I feel like for us, we knew we wanted to get to this point for sure, and this was, like, the bare minimum.”
Beers credited the program's culture to Baranczyk, who has posted a 127-41 record over five seasons with NCAA Tournament appearances each year.
“You can tell in the five years that Jennie has been here she has created not just a winning culture but a culture that wants to work and that wants to have fun while winning,” Beers said.
Michigan State, finishing the season at 23-9, falling short of their first Sweet Sixteen berth since 2009. Rashunda Jones led the Spartans with 20 points, Kennedy Blair added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Grace VanSlooten contributed 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Spartans controlled the first half, leading 42-37 at the break after shooting 47.1% from the field. They limited Oklahoma to 38.9% shooting and forced 14 turnovers.
However, momentum shifted early in the third quarter. With Michigan State ahead 42-39, a flagrant foul on Jalyn Brown allowed Chavez to make both free throws. Beers followed with a close-range basket and a mid-range jumper, giving Oklahoma a 45-42 lead and forcing a Spartan timeout. The Sooners carried a slim 57-54 advantage into the fourth.
Oklahoma exploded out of the gate in the final period. A 3-pointer from Verhulst extended the lead to 66-58, and despite Michigan State's efforts, the Spartans could get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Free-throw shooting proved decisive: Oklahoma converted 17 of 22 attempts, while Michigan State made just 7 of 16. Turnovers remained a concern for the Sooners, who committed 23 overall, leading to 21 points for the Spartans.
Baranczyk addressed it directly: “I’m not really happy with the turnovers that we had. We had too many careless turnovers (to be) in March.”
As the Sooners head to the regional semifinals, expectations remain high.
Anything less than advancing further would fall short of the bar they've set for themselves.
UP NEXT: The Sooners now await the winner of Monday's game between No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 9 seed Southern California in the Sweet Sixteen. Oklahoma's next matchup will take place in Sacramento, at the Golden 1 Center.