NORMAN — DeYona Gaston carved the 16th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners up during the fourth quarter.
But in the closing seconds, the Auburn standout couldn’t come up with a basket, and the Sooners escaped with a 73-71 win over the Tigers on Monday at Lloyd Noble Center.
OU led by as many as 12 early, but that lead dissipated by the fourth, when Gaston took over.
Gaston scored 14 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth, as Auburn outscored the Sooners 23-15.
But Payton Verhulst hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to put the Sooners up by two, and then Beatrice Culliton and Skylar Vann bracketed Gaston near the top of the lane, making it difficult for Gaston to get a clean look.
“I thought Sky made a pretty good read there, and that’s hard,” Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “When you have to draw so much attention t one player, that’s a challenge because you’re giving something up and we were giving something up. We had to go and I thought Sky went. I thought B (Culliton) kind of held her own as much as she could possibly hold her own.”
Gaston’s shot bounced off the rim, Verhulst grabbed it and dribbled out the clock to help the Sooners escape.
Gaston came in averaging 21.8 points per game.
OU (18-6, 6-5 SEC) won for the second consecutive game.
Here are four more takeaways from the Sooners’ win:
Jennie Baranczyk not happy with second-half performance
After taking a 44-35 lead into halftime, OU was outscored 36-29 in the second half.
The Sooners shot just 37% from the floor, missing all 10 of their 3-pointers and had 11 turnovers after halftime.
While Baranczyk generally has remained positive, even as her team has put up big turnover numbers this season, that positivity took a turn Monday.
“I want us to understand how good we can be,” Baranczyk said. “I’m pretty positive and I’m pretty, ‘yeah, let’s try it.’ But at the end of the day, we took the second half for granted. We can’t take the second half for granted and you can’t against good teams and you can’t in this conference. What I don’t understand is why when things are going well and things work so well, the reason that we don’t just keep doing it. …
“Until we decide that we really want to be a great team, I don’t know how to help us. … At the end of the day, if we don’t start freakin’ taking care of the basketball, we’re going to struggle.”
The Sooners had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know why we sometimes do stray from what is working,” Skylar Vann said. “One thing is don’t hesitate. That’s something that I think a lot of our turnovers come from is hesitation and then trying to pass it because it’s too late. I think we’re a great team. I think we can do great things still this season.”
Skylar Vann resurgent
After sharing Big 12 Player of the Year honors last season, OU senior Skylar Vann hasn’t been nearly as big a piece of the Sooners’ offense this season.
There’s plenty of reasons for that, from the addition of Raegan Beers to the roster to the move to the SEC and more.
But with Beers out Monday against Auburn, Vann was front and center for the Sooners.
Vann scored 20, tying her season high, on 9-of-15 shooting. She also had five rebounds and four assists.
“My teammates just put me in really good positions today,” Vann said, before Baranczyk cut her off.
“No, you took shots today,” Baranczyk said. “And you didn’t hesitate and were in the flow and you didn’t worry if it went in or didn’t go in.”
Vann scored two big buckets in the fourth.
With 7:22 remaining, she grabbed an offensive rebound and went right back up, hitting the shot underneath the basket and picking up a foul in the process.
The three-point play stopped what had been a 9-0 Auburn run to begin the fourth quarter and cut the Sooners’ lead to one, the closest the game had been since the opening basket.
Then with 1:17 left, she grabbed another offensive rebound, this time off a missed free throw, and went right back up to tie the game.
“Not just for myself but also for my team, I need to know that I’ve got to look to score, when I have the ball especially or when I have a mismatch,” Vann said. “I definitely did that today. It felt good.”
Vann, who hadn’t attempted more than 13 shots in a game this season, had been averaging 6.7 points per game during conference play.
Former OSU teammates square off
Lexy Keys and Taylen Collins were teammates at Oklahoma State for two seasons.
Monday, they squared off as opponents, with Keys coming off the bench for OU and Collins starting for the Tigers.
Collins came up with a big bucket with just less than three minutes remaining, putting Auburn ahead.
Collins finished with eight points and six rebounds.
Raegan Beers out again
OU leading scorer and rebounder Raegan Beers missed her second consecutive game due to illness, though for the second game, Beers was on the bench for the Sooners.
Beers also missed Thursday’s win at Ole Miss.
“I’m hoping she’s back soon,” Baranczyk said. “We don’t know yet. We don’t have a timeline.”
Without Beers in the lineup, Baranczyk once again started Liz Scott in her place, though Culliton played 24 minutes off the bench to give the Sooners more size inside.
Culliton had six points, eight rebounds and three assists.
More: OU women’s basketball holds off Ole Miss as Raegan Beers sits out Sooners’ win
What channel is Oklahoma vs Auburn on today?
TV channel: SEC Network
Livestream: ESPN+ (here’s how to stream it live)
Oklahoma vs Auburn will be broadcast on SEC Network. It will also be streamed on ESPN+.
Watch Oklahoma vs Auburn live with ESPN+
More: OU women’s basketball roster: A look at the 2024-25 Oklahoma Sooners
What time does OU play today? Oklahoma vs Auburn time
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Date: Monday, Feb. 10
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Start time: 7 p.m. CT
The Oklahoma vs Auburn game starts at 7 p.m. from Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
Oklahoma women’s basketball schedule 2024-25
All times are Central Standard Time (CST)
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Monday, Nov. 4: Oklahoma 76, Southern 44
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Friday, Nov. 8: Oklahoma 95, Virginia 51
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Wednesday, Nov. 13: Oklahoma 122, Western Carolina 56
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Tuesday, Nov. 19: Oklahoma 79, Wichita State 49
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Friday, Nov. 22: Oklahoma 88, UNLV 58
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Monday, Nov. 25:Oklahoma 85, DePaul 62
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Wednesday, Nov. 27:Duke 109, Oklahoma 99 (OT)
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Wednesday, Dec. 4: Oklahoma 78, Louisville 72
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Sunday, Dec. 8: Oklahoma 110, Alabama State 46
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Sunday, Dec. 15:Oklahoma 94, Oral Roberts 54
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Tuesday, Dec. 17: Oklahoma 72, Michigan 62
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Sunday, Dec. 22: Oklahoma 111, Omaha 65
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Sunday, Dec. 29: Oklahoma 82, New Mexico State 64
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Thursday, Jan. 2: Texas 80, Oklahoma 73
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Sunday, Jan. 5: Oklahoma 87, Tennessee 86
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Thursday, Jan. 9: Mississippi State 81, Oklahoma 77
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Sunday, Jan. 12: Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 62
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Thursday, Jan. 16: Oklahoma 80, Missouri 63
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Sunday, Jan. 19: South Carolina 101, Oklahoma 60
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Sunday, Jan. 26: Oklahoma 86, Georgia 55
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Thursday, Jan. 30: LSU 107, Oklahoma 100
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Sunday, Feb. 2: vs Kentucky at 3 p.m. (SEC Network)
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Thursday, Feb. 6: at Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network+)
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Monday, Feb. 10: vs. Auburn at 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
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Sunday, Feb. 16: at Missouri at 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
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Thursday, Feb. 20: vs. Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. (SEC Network+)
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Sunday, Feb. 23: at Arkansas at 2 p.m. (SEC Network+)
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Thursday, Feb. 27: at Florida at 6 p.m. (SEC Network+)
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Sunday, March 2: vs. Alabama at 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network+)
More: OU women’s basketball schedule: Dates, times, TV channels for 2024-25 season
Oklahoma vs Auburn women’s basketball highlights
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Skylar Vann helps lead OU women’s basketball to win vs. Auburn
