Oklahoma Sooners true freshman just had an electric moment a lot of players don’t see until later in their collegiate careers
Aalyiah Chavez just let everyone know the Sooners freshman has arrived.
By defeating No. 2 South Carolina at home on Thursday night, the Oklahoma Sooners made a statement. Perhaps this was the greatest win in this era of women’s college hoops, and it was all orchestrated by a scorching fourth quarter/overtime performance from true freshman Aaliyah Chavez.
There was no stopping her in overtime. After scoring 11 total points in regulation, Chavez exploded with 15 points in just five minutes of overtime. Some of the shots she was hitting were shots you usually see from upperclassmen, or at least not players that are true freshmen.
Again, Chavez showed she is built differently.
“She’s great… She’s having a great freshman year,” South Carolina head coach Sawn Staley said after the game. “She delivered everything that you want a point guard to.”
As a result of her performance, Chavez finished with 26 points, eight assists, and four rebounds, while also shooting 5/10 from three. This “I’ve arrived moment” was something special to watch. It showed that Chavez is not only the future of the Sooners’ program, but potentially the future of the sport. Not to mention, her performance helped get her team back on track after losing their last three in a row.
South Carolina had no answer for an Sooners team that needed this win desperately
After losing to the Ole Miss Rebels, Kentucky Wildcats, and then LSU Tigers all in a row, the Sooners had to pull this one out. This is part of the SEC, and it’s important that teams go through these stretches to learn more about themselves. They went through that in those three games, and this one was the ultimate test to see how they would respond and what kind of team they were.
It’s obvious they responded the right way.
“We ran into a team that wanted to win more,” Staley said.
Four of the Sooners’ remaining 10 games are against ranked opponents. So, just because they got this one out of the way against an elite opponent doesn’t mean they can let off the gas. They still have to play the No. 4 team in the country, the Texas Longhorns, and the No. 5 team, Vanderbilt.
There is no time for resting on their laurels.
“This isn’t the end of our road. This isn’t a Super Bowl win,” Sooners head coach Jennie Baranczyk said after the game.
Oklahoma will play the Auburn Tigers next, a game perfectly set up for Auburn to be a trap team.
Oklahoma Sooners News
Sooners add a player to new revamped position group in the best way possible for 2026
The Sooners needed Carreon back.
