WBB Game Preview: No. 6 Sooners Open Season Monday

NORMAN — The 52nd season of Oklahoma women's basketball tips off on Monday when the sixth-ranked Sooners host Belmont at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+ with Chad McKee and Pooh Williamson on the call. Brian Brinkley and Carolyn Baker will have the radio broadcast on the Sooner Sports Radio Network, while Enrique Vasquez and Eduardo Olivas will make history as the voices of the program's first-ever Spanish-language broadcast.

The Sooners enter 2025-26 with their highest preseason ranking (No. 6) in the AP poll since 2009-10, when OU opened the year at No. 4 and advanced to the Final Four. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association ranked Oklahoma No. 7 in its preseason top 25.

Picked fourth in the SEC by the league's 16 coaches, OU features preseason All-SEC selections Raegan Beers (first team) and Payton Verhulst (second team). The Sooners return the SEC's second-highest scoring percentage (62.3%), led by Beers (17.3 PPG), Verhulst (14.9) and Sahara Williams (10.6). Baranczyk added the nation's No. 8 recruiting class per 247Sports, highlighted by Aaliyah Chavez, the top-ranked freshman in the country. OU's 11-player roster includes six returners and five freshmen.

Last season, OU returned to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013 and finished 27-8, marking its fourth consecutive 20-win campaign under Baranczyk. The Sooners went 11-5 in their debut SEC season, tying for fourth and advancing to the conference semifinals. Their 27 wins were the program's most since 2010. OU ended the year ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and set program records for points (84.7), rebounds (47.7), assists (21.7) and field goals made (1,091).

FAN INFORMATION AND HOW TO FOLLOW

Monday's game will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Chad McKee and Pooh Williamson on the call. The contest will also air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network with Brian Brinkley and Carolyn Baker calling the action on KOKC 1520 AM. Enrique Vasquez and Eduardo Olivas will make history as the voices of the program's first-ever Spanish-language broadcast airing on Ritmo 96.5 FM in Oklahoma City.

Additionally, fans can follow the game's live stats.

Tickets are on sale now and fans with a ticket to the women's game are invited to stay for the men's basketball home opener against Saint Francis at 7:30 p.m. CT. One ticket will get you admission to both contests of the doubleheader.

The first 1,000 fans will take home an exclusive Sweet 16 banner to celebrate the Sooners' 2025 postseason run, and all fans can enjoy $2 beer, soda and popcorn during both games.

Doors open at 3:30 p.m. CT with the pregame Boomsquad Block Party open at 3 p.m. in the LNC parking lot.

(6) Oklahoma vs. Belmont

Date: Monday, Nov. 3

Tip Time: 4:30 p.m. CT

Location: Norman, Okla.

Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

TICKETS

SECN+

LIVE STATS

GAME NOTES

NOTABLES

• Under Baranczyk, Oklahoma is 4-0 in season openers, winning by an average of 17.3 points. All-time, the Sooners are 35-16 in openers and 40-11 in their first game of the season. OU has dropped just one opener in the last 15 years (2020-21 vs. Houston).

• Monday night's opener marks the earliest season opener (Nov. 3) in Oklahoma women's basketball history in terms of calendar date. The previous early start as Nov. 4, set last season when OU opened vs. Southern.

• When OU All-American center Raegan Beers takes the court Monday night, her younger sister Rylie Beers will be in the arena, but not as a fan. The freshman forward suits up for Belmont, putting the Beers sisters on opposite sidelines. The two starred together at Valor Christian High School in Littleton, Colo., and come from a family of athletes, as their brothers Rocky and Rowdy both played college football. Raegan, who switched back to No. 15 this season, will wear the same jersey number as Rylie, with parents Ike and Kari in attendance on Monday in Norman.

• If you want to see one of the fastest and most prolific offenses in the country, then watch OU basketball. The Sooners are the only team in the country to average 82.0+ points per game over the last four seasons and set the school record last year by posting 84.7 ppg.

• Oklahoma signed the nation's No. 8 recruiting class, featuring three top-70 prospects in 247Sports' final rankings — No. 1 Aaliyah Chavez, No. 34 Keziah Lofton and No. 61 Brooklyn Stewart. The freshman class is rounded out by international additions Emma Tolan (Ireland) and Daffa Cissoko (Draveil, France), OU's first international players since 2019-20. All five played in Oklahoma's exhibition game and are slated for potential debuts on Monday.

• A victory on Monday would mark Oklahoma's 13th straight win at home against a non-conference, unranked foe. The Sooners went 12-0 last season and their last loss in such games was vs. Southern on Dec. 22, 2023.

UP NEXT

• The sixth-ranked Sooners travel west for one of the season's marquee non-conference matchups, taking on No. 3 UCLA at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Nov. 10. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT on Fox Sports 1.

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