Oklahoma

Controversial ending makes loss to Oklahoma even harder for Texas women’s basketball

Published

2 years ago

February 29, 2024

Controversial ending makes loss to Oklahoma even harder for Texas women’s basketball

NORMAN, Okla. — Following a 71-70 loss to Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday evening, the Texas Longhorns chose to blame themselves.

Referees make for good scapegoats, though, and it’s unlikely that many Texas fans would have minded if some burnt-orange ire was directed toward the officials. But that wasn’t the tactic Madison Booker used when she was asked if she was fouled on the game’s final play.

“Did I get fouled? I really don’t know,” the freshman guard said.

“That’s a good answer,” said UT coach Vic Schaefer, who was seated to Booker’s right at the postgame press conference.

What about the controversial traveling call on Booker that set up the game-winning sequence for Oklahoma?

“We can say ‘the refs’ all we want, but I think we kind of got riled up at the end when those two calls happened,” Booker said. “I think we were just thinking about other things than just getting a rebound. A lot of factors was affecting us and our mental.”

In the end, Texas wasn’t beaten by the officiating crew. The Longhorns were done in by Sooners Lexy Keys, Skylar Vann and Payton Verhulst.

Keys hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left to lift Oklahoma to a one-point victory that secured the Big 12’s outright championship. The Sooners split last year’s conference championship with Texas, but they had last finished a season alone atop the Big 12 standings in 2009.

“First, just congratulate Oklahoma on winning the championship,” Schaefer said. “It’s awfully hard to do and coach (Jennie) Baranczyk and her team played really hard tonight and made one more play than we did.”

A wild ending to a wild game

Oklahoma was playing catch-up for much of Wednesday’s game, but Texas failed to take advantage of a 15-point lead that it built in the first half and the nine-point edge it held with 8:56 remaining. And Texas still led by three points before the wild sequence that ended the game.

With 26 seconds left, Vann made one of two free throws. The miss came on Vann’s second attempt and that set off a wild scramble for the ball. Oklahoma point guard Nevaeh Tot eventually got her hands on it, but her subsequent layup attempt missed and Booker grabbed the rebound. Booker, however, was called for traveling as she tried to scoot upcourt even though replays suggested that she may not have had possession of the ball in the first place.

“I’ll have to go back and look at it, but I’m really disappointed that something like that happens in a game of this magnitude from the vantage point that was made from,” Schaefer said. “I can’t really comment on that.”

Following the turnover, Vann missed twice. But after her second miss, Vann beat UT guard Shaylee Gonzales to the loose ball and was able to save it from going out of bounds with a pass to an open Keys, who then nailed the decisive 3-pointer.

“We had the opportunity to grab the rebound, it fumbled,” Gonzales said. “It’s just very unfortunate. We worked super hard to prepare for this game and we thought we had it. Unfortunately, we just didn’t end with the win.”

Sooners made the most of their second chances

Oklahoma finished with a 21-5 edge in offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points. Oklahoma shot just 35.7% from the field.

“Twenty-one offensive boards was our Achilles,” Schaefer said.

After Keys knocked down her big shot, Texas called a timeout and drew up one last play. Booker drove to the basket after the inbounds pass, but Vann collapsed defensively and Texas was unable to get off a good look.

Booker finished with a game-high 26 points and also contributed seven assists and eight rebounds. Gonzales and Jones each added 10 points, but the two veterans combined to attempt just two shots in the second half.

Verhulst led the Sooners with 18 points while Keys scored 16. Despite being the shortest player on the court on Wednesday, the 5-foot-3 Tot led all players with her 10 rebounds and she also distributed eight assists.

Oklahoma, which recorded a 91-87 win over UT in Austin last month, will close out its regular season at Kansas on Saturday. Texas can secure the second seed in the Big 12 tournament by beating BYU this weekend.

“There’s still so much in front of us,” Texas guard Shay Holle said. “We’ve got to learn from it, but we can’t mope. Got to put our head down and go to work.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma storms bring widespread damage, tornadoes in Purcell and Shawnee

Published

11 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma storms bring widespread damage, tornadoes in Purcell and Shawnee

8:45 p.m. Tornado Update from NWS Norman:

EF1 (high end) at Purcell
EF0 near Lake Thunderbird (south of Stella/northwest of Little Axe)
EF1 west and near the Shawnee Twin Lakes
EF1 in north Shawnee.
There are other areas of damage that we will continue to investigate.

Original story:

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Storms moved through parts of Oklahoma on Thursday morning, with at least five tornado warnings issued and two tornadoes that touched down in Purcell and Shawnee, leaving behind damage.

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved through central and eastern Oklahoma early Thursday that producing tornadoes, damaging winds, and power outages.

Preliminary information from the National Weather Service in Norman shows that at least EF-1 damage was found in Purcell. Survey teams are continuing to assess the damage that was left behind from the morning storms.

Officials also reported that widespread power outages occurred in the city, along with downed trees and powerlines, with nine homes having damaged roofs, and a semi-truck rollover accident on I-35 with one injury.

Shawnee also suffered some damage Thursday morning, which includes downed fences and partial roof loss at the Holiday Inn Express. As of Thursday evening, NWS officials confirm that a tornado did touch down in the northern portion of Shawnee; however, a preliminary rating hasn’t been given at this time.

According to Comanche County Emergency Management, damages related to the storms were reported across the City of Lawton, with roof damage at Sheridan and Lee, along with power pole and power line damage.

Lawton Fire Department responded to a rooftop fire at MacArthur High School on Thursday morning, caused by wind damage to AC units.

Lightning strikes in Edmond were reported to have caused a transformer fire near Covell and Kelly, with another lightning strike having caused a tree to fall on top of a vehicle near Covell and Broadway, resulting in one person being injured.

Straight-line winds were also reported to have destroyed a barn north of Guthrie, while structures were damaged in south Wynona, including a shop building that was devastated and a mobile home that was damaged.

Damage assessments are said to be ongoing at this time. News 4 will provide updates as we learn more.

According to NWS Norman officials, the last time the department issued a tornado warning in January was on January 10, 2020. However, Thursday’s reported tornado was not the earliest for a tornado to occur in Oklahoma. Tornadoes happened in Osage, Mayes, McIntosh, Ottawa, and Sequoyah Counties back on January 2, 2023.

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Oklahoma

Neighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado

Published

23 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Neighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado

PURCELL — Jennifer Fox had just fed the pigs behind her house early in the morning Thursday, Jan. 8, and began getting ready for work before she and her two sons heard something hit her bedroom window.

“I said, ‘Is it hailing?” she said. “My oldest looked out the window and he saw our awning across the back. He said, ‘Mom, the awning’s gone.”

Fox looked out the window and saw debris everywhere. She said she didn’t hear tornado sirens, but she and her sons immediately took shelter in a closet. By that time, the suspected tornado had already passed through her neighborhood off of Johnson Avenue in Purcell.

At first, Fox didn’t think there was a tornado and attributed the damage and debris to strong winds.

But just one street over, the roof of one house had been destroyed. When she looked at the house behind hers, Fox said she knew a tornado had hit her neighborhood.

“I was thankful at the time,” she said. “I told my kids, I said, ‘It could’ve been a lot worse.’ We weren’t prepared, obviously. I really felt like it just barely missed us.”

Severe weather passed through central Oklahoma early Thursday morning, bringing reports of damage from a possible tornado in Purcell. The National Weather Service in Norman reported on social media that survey teams have found at least EF1 tornado damage in the Purcell area.

The Purcell Fire Department reported a tornado touched down in the city, causing roof damage to nine homes, a semi truck rollover accident on Interstate 35 with one injury and widespread power outages, downed trees and powerlines.

On Norte Street in Purcell, the suspected tornado wiped out the roof of a newly-built home, throwing debris onto the road, including a Christmas tree and blue ornaments. The houses across the street and next door were untouched.

Community members and local high school students gathered pieces of trash, plywood, insulation and other debris and hauled them off.

Next door to Fox, a man and a woman removed debris from their yard that appeared to have blown over from Fox’s house. Like a puppy, a tall brown horse followed the man as he picked up each piece of trash. Across the street, cattle laid in the middle of a field and watched as one person after another drove into the neighborhood to lend a hand.

About five miles northeast of Fox’s house, the suspected tornado knocked over a few powerlines near Purcell’s football stadium. A tree fell onto a small white house and took the tin roof off a large warehouse.

Ron Musgrave, the warehouse’s owner, lives six miles north of Purcell. He said he learned his property was damaged through a local news broadcast.

“They had the people out front and they had the helicopters, so I could see it,” Musgrave said. “They were flying over here. There’s a football field, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. If that’s the football field, that’s my warehouse.”

The retired home builder and property owner said he keeps building supplies in his warehouse and a black and white cat who’s in charge of exterminating any trespassing mice.

The cat was happy to see Musgrave as he surveyed the water damage inside of the warehouse. Though there was some wet spots, the roof took most of the impact.

“It’s a project,” Musgrave said with a smile. “I am down for it.”

Severe weather damage reported in Shawnee, Norman

Tree damage was reported in Cleveland County at 156th Street and East Tecumseh Avenue, according to Alyse Moore, Cleveland County communications director, along with damage to a car port and barn at 800 Moffatt Road north of Lexington.

Storm damage was also reported in Shawnee. Social media posts show damage to the Holiday Inn Express and Walmart Supercenter off of Interstate 40.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooners add transfer portal offensive lineman to the roster

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Sooners add transfer portal offensive lineman to the roster

The Oklahoma Sooners made an under-the-radar transfer portal addition on Wednesday, bringing back a player who spent two seasons in Norman before transferring out last year.

Former Central Oklahoma offensive lineman Kenneth Wermy will be returning to play for OU out of the portal. Wermy played for the Sooners in 2023 and 2024 before spending 2025 at the NCAA Division II level with the Bronchos. He’ll add depth to an offensive line group that is in need of it after recent portal departures.

Wemry is a local product from Cache, Oklahoma, and he stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 315 pounds. The Sooners have been busy adding big names in the transfer market, but with a week and a half left until the portal closes, the focus may soon turn to retention and building back depth on the roster.

Oklahoma had a busy portal day on Wednesday, adding Wermy and former Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan. However, Oklahoma also lost three players to the portal, in linebacker Sammy Omosigho, defensive back Jaydan Hardy, and wide receiver Zion Ragins.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.

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