Verhulst, Beers help No. 13 Oklahoma women beat Florida 89-65, win 6th straight
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Payton Verhulst scored 17 points, Raegan Beers added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and No. 13 Oklahoma beat Florida 89-65 on Thursday night for its sixth win in a row.
Skylar Vann scored 13 points, Sahara Williams had 11 points with nine rebounds and Liz Scott also scored 11 points for Oklahoma (22-6, 10-5 SEC).
Verhulst hit two 3-pointers as the Sooners jumped to a 16-4 lead after Zya Vann, who finished with 10 points, made two free throws with 4:20 left in the first quarter. Florida scored the next 10 points to spark a 15-2 run that gave the Gators their first lead when Laila Reynolds hit a 3 to make it 19-8. But Reyna Scott answered with a three-point play 16 seconds later and Oklahoma led the rest of the way.
Liv McGill led Florida (14-15, 5-10) with 14 points. Ra Shaya Kyle scored 11 points with nine rebounds and Alexia Dizeko also scored 11.
Oklahoma shot 44% (31 of 71), outrebounded the Gators 52-39 and outscored them 13-4 in second-chance points. Florida made 22 of 70 (31%) from the field.
The Sooners, in their first season as members of the SEC, went in to the game tied with No. 20 Alabama and Mississippi for fifth in the conference standings, a game behind No. 12 Kentucky. The top four seeds get a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, which begins March 5 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Oklahoma wraps up its regular season when the Sooners play host to Alabama on Sunday and Florida plays at No. 1 Texas.
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