NORMAN, Okla. (AP) 鈥� Raegan Beers had 18 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 4 seed Oklahoma beat fifth-seeded Michigan State 77-71 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Beers, a 6-foot-4 senior center, used her strength to dominate the paint, even though Michigan State had the height to match her. Beers made 7 of 11 field goals and had four steals and two blocks.
Aaliyah Chavez added 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Sooners (27-7), who advanced to play in the Sweet 16 of for the second straight year. Oklahoma will play the winner of Monday鈥檚 matchup between No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 9 seed Southern California.
Reaching the Sweet 16 isn鈥檛 enough for the Sooners, who .
鈥淚 think for us, this is our expectation now,鈥� Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst, a senior, said. 鈥淟ike, this is our bar. Obviously, we made the Sweet 16 last year, and our season didn鈥檛 end the way we wanted going from there. So I feel like for us, we knew we wanted to get to this point for sure, and this was, like, the bare minimum.鈥�
Beers said Oklahoma鈥檚 is a direct result of the way coach Jennie Baranczyk has built the program. Baranczyk has guided the Sooners to a 127-41 record and NCAA Tournament berths in each of her five seasons.
鈥淪he has created not just a winning culture, but a culture that wants to work and that wants to have fun while winning,鈥� Beers said.
Rashunda Jones scored 20 points, Kennedy Blair had 14 points and nine rebounds and Grace VanSlooten added 13 points and seven rebounds for Michigan State (23-9). The Spartans were trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009. They have reached the NCAA Tournament all three seasons coach Robyn Fralick has been in charge.
鈥淎t the end of the day, the kids left it all out there in a great game,鈥� Fralick said. 鈥淭his particular team has really helped elevate our program and has done some things that haven鈥檛 been done here in a long time.鈥�
Michigan State led 42-37 at halftime behind 47.1% shooting. The Spartans held Oklahoma to 38.9% shooting and forced the Sooners into 14 turnovers.
Early in the second half, with Michigan State leading 42-39, Michigan State鈥檚 Jalyn Brown was called for a flagrant foul. Chavez made both free throws. Moments later, Beers scored in close, then made a mid-range jumper to put the Sooners up 45-42 and force a Michigan State timeout. The Sooners took a 57-54 lead into the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma started the final period hot. A 3-pointer by Verhulst put the Sooners up 66-58. Michigan State got no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Freshman guard is learning fast
Chavez has not shot particularly well in her first NCAA Tournament, but she鈥檚 got 11 assists and just one turnover in the two wins combined.
Baranczyk said Chavez improved throughout Sunday鈥檚 game.
鈥淵ou could see her come out and press a little bit,鈥� Baranczyk said, 鈥渁nd then you saw her settle in and be able to get the ball, to a point that she鈥檚 — what you guys don鈥檛 see is, she鈥檚 play calling for other people.鈥�
Turnovers issue can鈥檛 continue
Chavez took care of the ball, but the Sooners still had 23 turnovers, which led to 21 points.
鈥淚鈥檓 not really happy with the turnovers that we had,鈥� Baranczyk said. 鈥淲e had too many careless turnovers (to be) in March.鈥�
Free throws make a difference
Oklahoma made 17 of 22 free throws while Michigan State made just 7 of 16.
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