NORMAN — The OU women’s basketball team doesn’t exactly ease into its inaugural SEC slate.
The 10th-ranked Sooners will take on No. 6 Texas at 8 p.m. Thursday at Lloyd Noble Center.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The Sooners swept two meetings with the Longhorns last season, including a thrilling 71-70 win in the penultimate regular-season game to clinch the conference title.
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup:
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Welcome to the SEC
While there are about to be plenty of new faces on the schedule for both the Sooners and Longhorns, they’ll start SEC play with a familiar foe.
Last season, the Sooners’ 91-87 win in Austin in late January helped spur a stretch that put them atop the Big 12.
But while the Big 12 has taken a step forward in women’s basketball in recent years, the SEC is significantly deeper.
The Sooners and Longhorns are two of eight ranked SEC teams, while two more are receiving votes.
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New additions make both teams deeper
Both teams returned the bulk of their rosters from last season, including co-Big 12 Players of the Year Skylar Vann of the Sooners and Madison Booker of the Longhorns.
But both teams figure to be better this season thanks to significant additions.
For OU, it’s been Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers and freshman guard Zya Vann who have played the biggest roles among the newcomers.
Beers is averaging 17.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists while Vann is coming off the bench to average 7.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists so far.
While Texas lost more than the Sooners in the offseason, they also added a couple of key pieces, notably Miami transfer forward Kyle Oldacre and freshman forward Justice Carlton.
Both players are coming off the bench for the Longhorns, while Oldacre averaging 11.0 points and 6.6 rebounds while Carlton is averaging 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds.
The Longhorns have just three players averaging 20 or more minutes per game, allowing Texas’ players to remain relatively fresh so far.
The Sooners have a deep lineup as well, though each of their five starters has averaged more than 20 minutes per game.
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Raegan Beers will be challenged
While Beers has been excellent so far, even when matched against players who challenged her size, the Longhorns will present a unique challenge for the 6-foot-4 post.
Texas’ biggest interior presence is 6-foot-4 Taylor Jones, who is averaging 11.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks so far.
The Longhorns also bring some significant size off the bench, primarily the 6-foot-6 Oldacre.
Jones, like Beers, began her collegiate career at Oregon State, though their time there never crossed over.
Jones played three seasons in Corvallis before transferring to Texas ahead of the 2022-23 season.
OU (12-1) leads the SEC in rebounding margin at plus-18.23 while the Longhorns (13-1) are third at 14.57.
The team that comes out ahead in rebounding figures to have an excellent chance to pull off the victory.
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How to watch OU-Texas women
The Sooners and Longhorns will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Thursday from Lloyd Noble Center. Streaming options for the game include Fubo (free trial).
Score prediction for OU-Texas women
OU 74, Texas 72: This figures to be a game that will come down to the wire, as did both matchups between the teams last season. OU gets the edge based on home-court advantage. One of the strengths for the Sooners so far has been their ball movement, as they lead the SEC and are second nationally in assists with 23.08 per game. That movement figures to give OU the edge here.
—Ryan Aber, Staff writer
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU vs Texas women’s basketball score prediction, picks, injury updates
