By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Oklahoma’s starting center was serenaded with chants of “Beers! Beers! Beers!” from the school’s pep band on Friday as she left the floor following the 10th-ranked Sooners’ 69-65 win over No. 12 Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
Raegan Beers had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Payton Verhulst added 16 points, and No. 10 Oklahoma battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 12 Kentucky 69-65 on Friday and advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Sahara Williams chipped in with 13 points for Oklahoma, which has won nine straight.
The Sooners (25-6) will face two-time defending Southeastern Conference champion and fifth-ranked South Carolina, an 84-63 winner over Vanderbilt, on Saturday.
Georgia Amoore scored 29 points and Clara Strack added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Kentucky (22-7.)
The teams finished tied for fourth in the SEC, but the Wildcats beat the Sooners 95-86 to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker and a double bye in the tournament. In that game Amoore had a career-high 43 points on seven 3-pointers, so finding a way to stop Kentucky’s point guard was a point of emphasis for Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk.
Amoore was 12 of 27 from the field.
Neither team led by more than five in the first half, but Amoore’s first 3-pointer of the game midway through the third quarter gave Kentucky a 10-point lead. Verhulst’s back-to-back 3s from the top of the key allowed the Sooners to take a 50-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Leading scorer Raegan Beers is getting used to the cheers — and she embraces them.
“Obviously my last name is popular, so it’s ‘Beers! Beers!’” the 6-foot-4 junior said with a smile. “They love to chant that (being) college students.”
Frankly, she deserves a toast.
Beers, a junior who transferred from Oregon State, has been stellar in her first two SEC Tournament games, with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Kentucky one day after posting 20 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in a win over Georgia.
On Friday, she was named one of five finalists for the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year award.
The pep band started the chant earlier this season at a home game and it has become a mainstay for the Sooners.
“It’s fun having that energy,” Beers said. “On the court when you’re with your team you can have that energy, but when the band, the cheer team, and the fans bring that energy with you — and I heard them today — that just fuels you ever more. To have a band like that that is willing to bring the energy along with our fans it makes for a fun environment to play in.”
Teammates say Beers’ bubbly, upbeat personality is contagious, and coach Jennie Baranczyk said it’s all genuine.
“That’s real how she was talking, she’s just a really nice person,” Baranczyk said.
During the holiday break, Beers made blankets for all of her new teammates, and she spends much of her free time at Hobby Lobby.
Baranczyk said Beers’ devotion to her teammates is evident on the floor.
“As she has said, when we have fun, we are really good,” Baranczyk said. “And when we have chemistry it comes out in the form of assists and team defense. When she is really assertive on the floor the way that she was today, she’s really just inserting her personality.”
Beers spent two seasons at Oregon State, where she averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds, before transferring last May.
With Beers in the middle and plenty of talent around her, the Sooners are looking like a team capable of a deep run in March as they enter Saturday’s SEC semifinal.
“She’s big, she’s strong,” Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said. “She’s got some moves. They’re very hard to guard. She’s a great kid. She’s a wonderful kid. She competes. She’s a competitor. And then you go through the handshake line and she’s the nicest kid you ever want to meet.”
Takeaway
Despite playing their second game in two days, the Sooners looked stronger down the stretch than the more well-rested Wildcats.
Key Moment
Skylar Vann’s cutting layup gave Oklahoma a 64-59 lead with 1:32 left.
Key Stat
The Sooners won despite shooting 31% from the field.
Up Next
While Oklahoma moves on to play its third game in three days, Kentucky will await its NCAA Tournament seed.
