OU women’s basketball’s wild Field Trip Day atmosphere set the stage for a win over North Alabama, highlighted by the potential chemistry between Raegan Beers and Aaliyah Chavez and valuable developmental minutes for the Sooners’ young roster.
Lloyd Noble went CRAZY when OU hit 67 points lolhttps://t.co/L50kulY90K
— The Daniel Bell© (@BasketballGuruD) November 14, 2025
NORMAN – On a chaotic and unforgettable Field Trip Day at Lloyd Noble Center, the Oklahoma women’s basketball team delivered an 89-61 win over North Alabama in front of thousands of screaming, dancing, endlessly energized elementary school students.You could feel the energy and excitement inside of the arena from the moment doors opened.
Kids were shouting OU chants, belting out songs, waving signs, and turning the arena into one of the loudest environments of the entire season. Viral references like “6-7!” rang throughout the crowd, and a halftime half-court shot ignited a roar that could rival any exciting moment.
For a November weekday morning, it was pure, organized chaos, an atmosphere players and coaches will remember long after the score fades.
While the environment set the tone, the basketball itself provided a clear takeaway: Raegan Beers and Aaliyah Chavez are beginning to find a rhythm together. And the results showed.
Beers led OU with 20 points on an efficient 6-11 shooting and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line, adding 11 rebounds for another dominant double-double. In addition, Chavez continued her upward trend with 17 points on 6-14 shooting, including 3-7 from three, along with four 4 and 3 rebounds.
Finding symmetry between two high usage players isn’t always simple. Beers has been OU’s anchor the last two seasons, while Chavez arrives as the nation’s top freshman with dynamic scoring ability. But today in Lloyd Noble the potential for something special between those two showed how that partnership has grown noticeably more natural.
“Lots of reps,” Beers said when asked about what it’s taken to get to this point with her and Chavez early in the season.
“Obviously, in practice, just like anything, muscle memory, Beers continued. We continue to work on our screener-role and handoffs that’s built into our offense. What’s cool is that in practice, we’re focusing on that so when we flow into our offense, it can be anybody. It’s been fun to see Aaliyah come alive these past couple of games and get her flow down, and then simultaneously letting everybody else kind of get their flow down as well.”
Their pick-and-rolls looked cleaner, their spacing sharper, and their shared reads more decisive. Chavez’s improved timing helped OU shoot 39% from the field, which was much higher in the first half, and generate 18 assists, while Beers’ gravity inside opened the floor for shooters like Sahara Williams, who added 13 points and 9 rebounds, and 5 assists of her own.
Having those two find their rhythm together is great but it isn’t the only thing that’s great about these games. The connection between Beers and Chavez is probably the most important thing for this young team but so is using their young depth and getting them valuable reps.
Even in a comfortable win like this, the meaning runs deeper for an OU roster relying heavily on underclassmen. At one point in the second quarter, head coach Jennie Baranczyk had three freshmen and a sophomore on the floor together. Opportunities that simply weren’t possible, or needed, in last year’s deeper rotation.
These reps matter now, but they’ll matter even more once SEC play ramps up.
“A lot of times freshmen come in and they try to prove something ‘If I don’t score, then I don’t play,’” Baranczyk said when talking about the importance of these minutes for her young roster.
“The reality is our freshmen are going to play,”she said. “How do you make people around you better? We have 11 people. We all are going to play. They have to be able to play through it.”
Surrounding those freshmen with stabilizing forces like Beers, Sahara Williams, or Payton Verhulst (who had 8 points and 3 assists) is essential. Baranczyk emphasized that leadership is being stretched early saying,
“Raegan’s had to be a lot more assertive. These are great basketball IQ learning moments. They have to learn each other. But Sahara and Regan have to be more assertive.”
The teaching moments showed. OU outrebounded North Alabama 53-40, converted 23-28 free throws, and generated 15 points off turnovers despite some uneven stretches. Sophomore Zya Vann, who had 12 points, and freshman Brooklyn Stewart, who added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists took turns settling into roles that will grow as the season progresses. Particularly Vann who is playing in a completely different role this season than in here freshman season.
Even mistakes became lessons. Missed entry pass attempts, forced passes, or defensive miscommunications, and Baranczyk welcomed all of it. These are growth reps, exactly the kind young teams need.
The Sooners’ win wasn’t just a scoreboard success, it was a developmental moment disguised as a non-conference game. Between Beers’ dominance, Chavez’s progression, Williams’ versatility, and crucial freshman and sophomore minutes, the Sooners left Field Trip Day better than they entered it.
Next up, the Sooners hit the road Sunday at 2:30 CST to face Western Carolina as their non-conference journey continues to shape a young but clearly rising team.
