Raegan Beers has 25 points, 18 rebounds to lead Oklahoma past FGCU 81-58 in March Madness

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Raegan Beers had 25 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 3 seed Oklahoma dominated the fourth quarter to beat 14th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast 81-58 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

The Sooners led 55-48 entering the fourth, then outscored the Eagles 26-10 in the final period.

“I thought the more fun that we had throughout the game, the better we got, especially in that fourth quarter,” Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said.

Beers, a 6-foot-4 center, towered over a team with no starter taller than 5-9. She helped the Sooners set a tournament record with 72 rebounds (the Eagles had 35).

“We knew going into the game we were going to be undersized pretty much one through five,” first-year FGCU coach Chelsea Lyles said. “Defensively, we just tried to take some things away. We gave up a few quick shots that we didn’t want to give up, and then our shots weren’t falling.”

Skylar Vann scored 24 points and Payton Verhulst added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Sooners (26-7).

Oklahoma advanced to play No. 6 seed Iowa — Baranczyk’s alma mater — on Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16.

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Oklahoma defeated FGCU 73-70 in the first round of last year’s tournament. Emani Jefferson, the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year who had 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Sooners last year, had 12 points and eight rebounds in the rematch while spending much of the day in foul trouble. She made 3 of 11 field goals.

Dolly Cairns scored 15 points, but the Eagles (30-4) shot 23.6% from the field and made 8 of 41 3-pointers (19.5%).

It was a disappointing end for a team that entered the day with 23 straight wins under Lyles.

“I told them this experience has been the best experience of my life,” Lyles said. “And it’s not because I’m sitting up here right now and it’s not because of the wins. It’s because I got to see a group of girls come together, grow, and accomplish something that a lot of people doubted.”

Takeaways

FGCU: The Eagles’ lack of size decided the game. They were cold from 3-point range and had just seven offensive rebounds.

Oklahoma: The Sooners made just 13 of 30 layups, and the flubs kept the Eagles in the game. They likely won’t get away with missing that many against Iowa.

Key moment

Vann converted from in close to give the Sooners a 60-50 lead early in the fourth quarter. It was desperately needed after Beers missed several shots near the basket. Beers then got back on track with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.

Elite encourager

Vann kept Beers motivated while carrying the scoring load through three quarters.

“That whole time she was hitting shots, she was constantly turning to her teammates and me and everybody else saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s play defense,’ and ‘Play defense, let’s shoot it again,’” Beers said. “Tried, couldn’t make a layup. But she’s like, ‘Shoot it again.’”

Key stat

Oklahoma had 23 offensive rebounds and 27 second-chance points.

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