Raegan Beers and Sahara Williams tallied double-doubles and No. 4 seed Oklahoma overwhelmed No. 13 seed Idaho 89-59 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last Friday night, ending Idaho’s 18 game winning streak.
Beers scored 18 points with four assists and four blocks, while Williams added 17 points and 10 rebounds, Aaliyah Chavez scored 15 points and Payton Verhulst had 14.
For Idaho (29-6), Kyra Gardner scored 19 points and Hope Hassmann added 12.
In Sunday’s second round game, Beers had 18 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 4 seed Oklahoma beat fifth-seeded Michigan State 77-71. The Spartans had advanced by beating No. 12 Colorado State 65-62 in the first round.
Also scoring in double digits for the Sooners were Aaliyah Chavez with 18 points, while Zya Vann and Payton Verhulst added 12 apiece.
The Sooners (26-7) advanced to play in the Sweet 16 for the second straight year, and the 12th time in program history. They’ll play the winner of Monday’s matchup between No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 9 seed Southern California. Oklahoma defeated South Carolina in overtime during the regular season.
Michigan State (23-9) was led by Rashunda Jones with 20 points, Kennedy Blair had 14 points, and Grace VanSlooten added 13.
Although Michigan State led 42-37 at halftime, OU battled back in the third quarter and led 57-54 going into the fourth quarter.
“When you’re in it, you don’t think about ‘oh, this is your last game,’ you’re just in it,” said OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk. “In those games that are like that, players just have to make big plays for you to be able to come out with a win, and I felt we had multiple people making really big plays.”
Oklahoma kept their momentum going in the fourth quarter, and Payton Verhulst hit a three-pointer that put the Sooners ahead 66-58. The Sooners were able to hold off the Spartans the rest of the way.