South Carolina women's basketball had made only one trip to Norman, Oklahoma, to play the Sooners prior to Thursday night: A 95-63 defeat in Dec. 2007.
Roughly 18 years later, the Gamecocks remain winless there, as Thursday's primetime matchup ended in a 94-82 overtime loss.
South Carolina started the game strong with sophomore guard Tessa Johnson being a go-to player early with 8 points and two made 3-pointers in the first quarter.
But South Carolina's traditional strengths, defending the paint and cleaning up the glass, were tested by Oklahoma's senior center Raegan Beers' ability as a powerful post player. Beers was a perfect 2-2 from the field and got three offensive rebounds, as South Carolina was out-rebounded 14-5 in total the first quarter.
Oklahoma struggled to stay out of foul trouble in the second quarter, resulting in Beers and redshirt senior guard Payton Verhulst subbing out early. South Carolina used this to re-establish itself in the paint during this time.
Freshman forward Alicia Tournebize had an impactful second quarter as a result of this. She had two rebounds, 7 total points in the second quarter, which included a three pointer.
South Carolina went into the half with a 7-point lead, 43-36, because of its ability to put pressure on Oklahoma's defense and get to the free-throw line. South Carolina had 13 free throw attempts in the first half to Oklahoma's 5.
South Carolina struggled to contain the Sooners in the second half. Beers scored the first basket out of halftime, and Chavez quickly scored to take a 44-43 Sooners lead. JuniorForward Sahara Williams also contributed all around with 6 points, three rebounds and two assists in the quarter.
Overall, Oklahoma's fast-paced offense started to wear down the Gamecock defense heading into the fourth. Through three quarters, Oklahoma had more paint points, rebounds and fast break points than South Carolina. Oklahoma went into the fourth quarter with a narrow 61-59 lead.
Senior center Madina Okot had 4 points in the third quarter, and freshman guards Ayla McDowell and Agot Makeer scored timely baskets to keep the Gamecocks in striking distance.
In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma's offensive approach continued, and something throughout the game that gave South Carolina trouble were the plays the Sooners ran; Oklahoma consistently used the "high-low" action, where a player in the high post (near the free throw line) passes the ball to a player sealing out their defender in the low post (at the basket).
Oklahoma ran it with Beers as the low-post player, and her strength in the low post caused the Gamecocks problems. Tournebize accumulated four fouls and Okot picked up three. Oklahoma also profited from moving Beers higher up the court in this action and others, which happened more often in overtime.
Bringing Beers higher up the court to set screens, run dribble handoffs and be the "high" player in "high-low" actions brought the South Carolina center guarding her away from the basket, which allowed guards such as Verhulst and Chavez to cut and drive to the rim with a reduced threat of Gamecock shot blockers. Verhulst specifically benefited from these actions in the fourth quarter with 6 points.
This, in addition to the transition offense of the Sooners, put South Carolina in a bind in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma's lead grew to 73-67 with 3:54 left in the game.
The Gamecocks countered with senior guard Raven Johnson in the final minutes, though. Johnson forced multiple steals late in the game to get quick transition baskets for South Carolina, which inspired the 8-0 run that gave it a 73-75 lead with 41 seconds left in the game.
Beers had a late tip-in and Oklahoma got a stop on the last play via a sophomore guard Zya Vann steal forced a 75-75 tie and overtime.
In overtime, Oklahoma cleaned up the turnovers after giving up six in the fourth quarter and kept bringing Beers up the floor to open up space for Verhulst and Chavez to attack. Verhulst scored 4, and Chavez scored 15 points along with four 3-pointers. South Carolina could not continue matching Oklahoma step for step and got outscored 19-7 in overtime.