OU women's basketball get No. 4 seed in Bridgeport Region, will host IUPUI in NCAA Tournament

NORMAN — Taylor Robertson sprang from her seat on the floor and danced.

Madi Williams threw her head back in relief.

Robertson and Williams have been the primary on-floor catalysts to OU’s resurgent season.

Now, they’ll lead the Sooners not only into the NCAA Tournament but get to stay home to do it.

OU is the No. 4 seed in the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Regional, and will open the tournament Saturday vs. IUPUI at Lloyd Noble Center.

It’s the Sooners’ first time in the tournament since 2018 and the first time OU has hosted since 2012.

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OU’s players gathered at first-year coach Jennie Baranczyk’s house to watch the bracket reveal, knowing they would be playing in the tournament but wondering if they would be a No. 4 seed playing at home or a No. 5 seed playing elsewhere.

It didn’t take too long to find that out, as the Sooners’ Bridgeport (Connecticut) Regional was the second regional revealed.

“It was really fun to be able to watch that,” Baranczyk said of Robertson’s and Williams’ reactions. “And just to be able to listen to them their initial thoughts in terms of just still focusing on getting better, still focusing on how cool it is that they believe in each other and just get to play at home.”

Robertson and Williams have been mainstays in OU’s lineup since they arrived together in 2018 but the Sooners were just 32-52 during that span.

But this season, with Baranczyk and her free-wheeling offensive system added to the mix, OU has thrived, with Robertson and Williams being right in the middle of it.

Williams, a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award for the top two-way player in the country, leads the Sooners with 18.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

While Williams’ reaction to the bracket reveal wasn’t overly demonstrative, she’s been OU’s emotional leader.

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“Madi is incredible, and I think what makes her incredible is it’s every possession, it’s every single thing, and she plays with such joy,” Baranczyk said. “She’s passionate and she’s competitive and she wants to lead this team. She’s got this incredible charisma, but she also just plays with a big smile on her face, and you’ve gotta love that.”

Robertson, the most prolific 3-point shooter in Big 12 history, averages 17.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

OU enters the tournament 24-8.

Baranczyk said her team’s focus the next few days will be internally, rather than preparing for IUPUI, who earned an automatic bid by winning the Horizon League Tournament, or fifth-seeded Notre Dame or 12th-season UMass.

“We still have some things we’ve got to continue to work on,” Baranczyk said. “And we still have a couple days to do that.

“(We’re going to) just continue to focus on competing and playing hard and having that deep belief because it’s March — anything can happen you know. There’s no motivation needed.”

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Late in Saturday’s loss to Baylor in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament, Skylar Vann went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

Vann left the court with tears streaming down her face, on crutches, with an ice pack on her left knee.

“We still don’t 100% know everything,” Baranczyk said. “We do know we got some good news and there’s some potential that she could be able to play next weekend from that standpoint, but we have to wait a couple days just to see how she responds to some things.

“We still remain very hopeful, but we could definitely use as many good vibes and prayers as we could possibly get, to be honest.”

Baranczyk said the Sooners earning a hosting spot would help Vann’s chances of playing.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU gets No. 4 seed, will host IUPUI in NCAA women's tournament