5th seeded OU women will face Florida Gulf Coast in NCAA Tournament

MARK AMBROGI Associated Press

Fifth-seeded Oklahoma (22-9) will face No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast (29-4) in the second game in the second game of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Florida Gulf Coast loves the long distance. The Eagles have taken nearly 200 more 3-point attempts than No. 18 Oklahoma. Fittingly, everyone on the Eagles’ roster is just listed as a shooter.

“We have to think completely differently than we have, especially in the last few weeks where we’ve really played dominant inside presence players.” Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “So that is something that we will have to adjust. You can’t just sit in the paint. You have to guard everybody, and everybody has to guard.”

Baranczyk said the Eagles are not a team that’s sneaking up on anybody.

“They’re a very, very talented team,” she said of Coach Karl Smesko’s team. “He’s done an incredible job for a long time.”

Senior Skylar Vann, Oklahoma’s leading scorer with a 14.7 average, said playing together will be the key.

“There’s not really a post presence, so that means you’ve got to be able to guard and stay in front but also not allow them to shoot wide open 3s,” Vann said.

Florida Gulf Coast has won its opening game as the No. 12 seed the past two seasons, beating Virginia Tech in 2022 and Washington State last year.