'Kept her to 20': Oklahoma crashes glass to drop BYU women to 0-2 in Big 12

PROVO — New conference, same result — at least, it was for Oklahoma women's basketball.

Skylar Mann had 19 points and six rebounds, and Aubrey Joens added 14 points and 10 rebounds as Oklahoma women's basketball upended BYU's Big 12 home opener 75-63 Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.

Lexy Keys added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Sooners (8-5, 2-0 Big 12), who outrebounded the Cougars 55-43 in a third straight win over a BYU program that features the nation's top rebounder in Lauren Gustin.

"Gustin's a great rebounder; I've played her for three years now. I know she can rebound," said Mann, whose team improved to 3-0 in true road games with their seventh straight win over BYU dating back 24 years. "Our game plan was just to outwork, box her out, box out everybody and really crash the glass. We've just got to be connected and be on the same page."

Gustin finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds for the Cougars (10-4, 0-2 Big 12) for her 13th double-double of the year and 69th of her career.

"We did so well, we kept her to 20," Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk deadpanned of Gustin.

Kailey Woolston added 14 points and four assists on just 4-of-11 shooting, and Kaylee Smiler supplied 11 points on 2-of-6 shooting.

Amari Whiting had 6 points, five rebounds and three assists, but had a streak of six straight games with a steal snapped while also shooting just 2-of-10 from the field.

It was a common thread for BYU, which shot just 29% from the field and 10-of-33 from 3-point range. The shooting number dropped as low as 6% in the first quarter while the Sooners got out to an early lead of 16-4 en route to an 18-8 advantage after the first frame.

"The game was pretty simple: You've got to hit shots," BYU coach Amber Whiting said. "I don't think I've seen us ever shoot that low in my time here. We had wide-open looks, too, and we've got to knock them down."

Vann had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting before the break to lead Oklahoma, which outrebounded the Cougars 28-20 and had 8 points off eight turnovers.

Gustin had 9 points and 10 rebounds at the break for BYU, which made just 2-of-15 first-half 3-pointers — both through starting forward Emma Calvert, who finished with 6 points on 2-of-13 shooting.

"Everything that they did in the first half was in our scouting report," Whiting said. "I just don't know that it actually sunk in; I don't know what the first half was. That's on us as coaches to make sure that we prepare them better. Our margin of error is very, very slim in this league."

The Cougars cut the deficit as low as 46-39 on back-to-back triples by Smiler and Davenport midway through the third quarter. The Sooners outscored the hosts 12-4 until Amari Whiting drained a halfcourt shot to beat the third quarter buzzer.

BYU outscored the visitors 40-35 in the second half, but couldn't get any closer — in large part because of Oklahoma's 18 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points.

"That's on us. We've got to box out," Whiting said. "We said that going into the game, and they crashed hard. Boxing out is just effort and energy. There's no skill; just go get someone. We were trying to out-jump them, and we can't do that."

BYU will look for its first Big 12 win Saturday when the Cougars host Iowa State (7-6, 1-1 Big 12). Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MST on ESPN+.

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