Oklahoma vs. Indiana: NCAA Women’s Tournament Preview and Prediction
Here is everything you need to know about Oklahoma and Indiana in our Sooners vs. Hoosiers NCAA Women’s Tournament second-round preview.
No. 5 Oklahoma (23-9) vs. No. 4 Indiana (25-5)
Time, TV: 5:30 p.m. CT, Monday, ESPN2
Location: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind.
All-time series: First meeting
NCAA Tournament Results: Oklahoma: def. FGCU, 73-70 (first round); Indiana: def. Fairfield, 89-56 (first round)
Winner: Advances to the Sweet 16 in Albany next week.
Projected starting lineups
Oklahoma: F Sahara Williams, F Skylar Vann, G Lexy Keys, G Nevaeh Tot, G Payton Verhulst.
Indiana: G Sara Scalia, G Sydney Parrish, G Chloe Moore-McNeil, G Yarden Garzon, F Mackenzie Holmes.
Players to watch
Oklahoma
F Skylar Vann
You really want to roll another player in here, but Vann dominated as the Sooners had to rally to beat FGCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Vann scored a team-high 24 points, along with three rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Her entire game was on display, and that’s why she was named an honorable mention All-American last week after sharing Big 12 Player of the Year honors with Texas freshman Madison Booker. In the regular season she averaged 15.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game and was one of five Power Five players to average 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, joining Caitlin Clark (Iowa), JuJu Watkins (USC), Cameron Brink (Stanford) and Grace VanSlooten (Oregon).
Indiana
G Sara Scalia
Scalia is a player after Oklahoma’s own heart. She loves to score and she’s good at it. The guard is second on the team in scoring at 16.2 points, but she also grabs 3.8 rebounds and dishes out 2.5 assists. But where she’s really scary is from distance. For the season she’s a 43.2% 3-point shooter and that was on display against Fairfield, where she scored 27 points and made five 3-pointers. She forms a great 1-2 punch with fellow guard Yarden Garzon (the sister of Oklahoma State guard Lior Garzon), and with leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes in the paint, the Hoosiers are just plain hard to guard.
Key storylines
Oklahoma
Jennie Baranczyk and the Sooners have been here before. In each of her first two seasons she’s gotten to the second round of the NCAA Tournament only to be turned away right before the Sweet 16. Two years ago it was at home against Notre Dame. Last year it was UCLA on the road in Los Angeles. This time the Sooners will have to go through the Hoosiers and Assembly Hall to do it. Beating Indiana would be a big deal for the program. The Sooners haven’t been to the second weekend of the tournament since the 2013 Tournament. Baranczyk was brought in to restore what Sherri Coale built. This is another chance to take that next step.
Indiana
Since coach Teri Moren arrived in Bloomington in 2014 the Hoosiers have enjoyed the most success they’ve ever had as a program. In 10 years she’s won more than 400 games, led the Hoosiers to a WNIT title, a Big Ten regular-season title and six NCAA Tournament appearances, including each of the last four seasons. The peak came in 2021 when Indiana reached the Elite Eight which was their first appearance that deep in the tournament. In a conference that has been defined by Iowa and Caitlin Clark the past two seasons, the Hoosiers are not to be overlooked.
Prediction
Indiana 81, Oklahoma 79. Expect a lot of points in this one. Both teams love to score and get up and down the floor. Indiana’s home court gives the Hoosiers a slight edge.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
