FGCU women can't overcome slow start against Oklahoma in NCAA Tournament
FGCU knew it would need its best performance of the season to upset Oklahoma on its home court and make NCAA Women’s Tournament history.
Unfortunately, the 14th-seeded Eagles delivered one of their worst, falling to the No. 3 Sooners 81-58 in a first-round game at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
FGCU dropped to 4-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with its second consecutive opening-round loss to Oklahoma, which beat the Eagles 73-70 last year. The Sooners’ victory allowed No. 3 seeds to stay unbeaten in women’s NCAA history.
The 58 points marked the fewest FGCU's ever scored in an NCAA first-round game and came on a season-low 23.6% shooting from the field for the Eagles.
The poor shooting started early for FGCU (30-4), which misfired on 25 of its first 29 attempts to fall behind by as many as 19 points early in the second quarter.
However, Oklahoma (26-7) let its commanding lead dwindle due to some offensive ineptitude of its own. The Sooners missed 12 of their final 13 shots in the first half, allowing the Eagles back in the game. FGCU put together a 14-2 run, pulling within 33-26 on a 3-pointer by Casey Santoro with just over a minute left in the second quarter. But Skyler Vann answered with a long-range 3 of her own to put Oklahoma back up by double-digits at the break.
The Eagles’ comeback hopes appeared to suffer a crippling blow when leading scorer Emani Jefferson, the two-time ASUN Player of the Year, picked up her fourth foul less than a minute into the third quarter. Still, FGCU managed to claw its way back from a 16-point deficit with Jefferson on the bench, closing the gap to 55-48 heading into the fourth, keyed by reserve Skyler Gill's nine third-quarter points.
But FGCU could get no closer, thanks to a dominating fourth-quarter stretch by Vann and star center Raegan Beers. The pair combined for 14 fourth-quarter points and led a 12-0 run that broke the game open for the Sooners.
The 6-foot-4 Beers finished with a game-high 25 points and 18 rebounds for Oklahoma while Vann added 24 points and nine rebounds. The Sooners dominated on the boards, outrebounding FGCU 72-35. The 72 rebounds set an NCAA women's tournament single-game record, breaking the previous mark of 69 by Connecticut in 2018. Oklahoma's 37-rebound margin iss the sixth largest in NCAA Women's Tournament history.
Fifth-year player Dolly Cairns led FGCU with 15 points. Jefferson added 12 in just 17 minutes while Gill had 11 for the Eagles.
FGCU women's basketball NCAA Tournament history
- 2012: No. 5 St. Bonaventure 72, No. 12 FGCU 65 (OT)
- 2013: No. 5 Oklahoma State 61, No. 12 FGCU 60 (OT)
- 2015: No. 7 FGCU 75, No. 10 Oklahoma State 67; No. 2 Florida State 65, No. 7 FGCU 47
- 2017: No. 4 Miami 62, No. 13 FGCU 60
- 2018: No. 12 FGCU 80, No. 5 Missouri 70; No. 4 Stanford 90, No. 12 FGCU 70
- 2019: No. 4 Miami 69, No. 13 FGCU 62
- 2021: No. 6 Michigan 87, No. 11 FGCU 66
- 2022: No. 12 FGCU 84, No. 5 Virginia Tech 81; No. 4 Maryland 89, No. 12 FGCU 65
- 2023: No. 12 FGCU 74, No. 5 Washington State 63; No. 4 Villanova 76, No. 12 FGCU 57
- 2024: No. 5 Oklahoma 73, No. 12 FGCU 70
- 2025: No. 3 Oklahoma 81, No. 14 FGCU 58