COLUMBIA — After welcoming Texas to the SEC, South Carolina women’s basketball faces the second of two conference newcomers.
South Carolina hosts No. 13 Oklahoma on Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN), its third straight game against a ranked opponent.
The No. 2 Gamecocks (17-1, 5-0 SEC) are coming off a win over No. 19 Alabama on Thursday, and the Sooners (15-3, 3-2) beat Missouri the same night. South Carolina beat Texas 67-50 on Jan. 12.
South Carolina is 0-3 against Oklahoma although they have not met since 2009. Last season, the Sooners went 23-10 and lost to Indiana in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Here is what to know about Oklahoma ahead of the matchup:
Oklahoma center Raegan Beers, transfer from Oregon State
Raegan Beers transferred from Oregon State to the Sooners after last season. The 6-foot-4 inch junior averaged 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds in the 2023-24 season, and so far in the SEC, she is averaging 17.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.
Beers is one of the best front court players in women’s college basketball and is shooting 68% from the field this season.
She’s had five games with 21 or more points (four games above 25) and has scored in double digits in 16 out of 17 games. Beers has also had seven double doubles.
As of Thursday, she was listed as questionable on the SEC injury report but against the Tigers, she played and scored five points.
Oklahoma has trouble with protecting the basketball
The Sooners are struggling to protect the ball on offense as they are averaging 19.1 turnovers per game which sits among some of the highest in Division I basketball. The Gamecocks are averaging 12.3 per game, which sits among the lowest.
Oklahoma will have to focus on not turning the ball over because South Carolina will look to capitalize and score in transition. The Gamecocks are forcing an average of 17.7 turnovers per game.
Payton Verhulst, 3-point leader for the Sooners
Senior guard Payton Verhulst is coming off a 38-point performance against Missouri.
She is shooting 33.6% from the 3-point line and is averaging 13.9 points per game.
In two games this month, she’s taken 11 3-point attempts and has taken over five shots in a game from behind the arc nine times. Verhulst will be someone South Carolina needs to keep track of on the court because she will pull up from outside.
Verhulst averages a team-high 4.2 assists per game.
Who has Oklahoma women’s basketball lost to this season?
Texas and Mississippi State both beat the Sooners. Texas won 80-73 on Jan. 2 and Mississippi State won 81-77 on Jan. 9.
South Carolina beat Texas 67-50 on Jan. 9 and Mississippi State 95-68 on Jan. 5.
South Carolina vs Oklahoma injury updates
The SEC injury report will be released on Saturday night but as of Thursday night’s games:
South Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina score prediction vs Oklahoma
South Carolina 75, Oklahoma 61: The Gamecocks take advantage of the Sooners’ carelessness with the basketball and pick up the Saturday afternoon win with 20 points in transition.
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women’s basketball vs Oklahoma score prediction
