No. 11/9 Sooners Ride 36 Free Throws To 100-93 Win Over No. 21/21 Lady Vols

Sunday, February 22

Norman, OK

2:00 P.M. ET

University of Tennessee

16-10,8-6SEC

100

Oklahoma

21-6,9-5SEC

Tennessee

Oklahoma

100

No. 11/9 Sooners Ride 36 Free Throws To 100-93 Win Over No. 21/21 Lady Vols

February 22, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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By: Eric Trainer

NORMAN, Okla. – No. 21/21 Tennessee put up a valiant fight at the Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday afternoon, but No. 11/9 Oklahoma went to the free-throw line 46 times and hit 36 of them en route to a 100-93 victory.

The Sooners (21-6, 9-5 SEC) set Lady Vol opponent records of 36 free throws and 46 attempts, hitting 19 of 23 charity tosses alone in the fourth quarter to hold off a UT squad that sliced a nine-point lead to three with 32 seconds left. OU, which hit seven of nine attempts at the line in the final half minute, broke its own Tennessee opponent marks of 31 makes and 45 attempts established vs. UT on Nov 10, 2002.

The Big Orange (16-10, 8-6 SEC) was led by 22 points from redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper and 21 points and 10 rebounds from freshman guard Jaida Civil. Senior guard Nya Robertson, who had a group of family and friends from Fort Worth, Texas, in the venue supporting her, connected on four of eight shots from beyond the arc and finished with 18.

Oklahoma placed all five starters in double figures, including two players with 20-plus. Sahara Williams fired in 22 points and Aaliyah Chavez contributed 21, including a 10-of-10 day at the charity stripe. Raegan Beers, Payton Verhulst and Zya Vann chipped in 18, 17, and 15, respectively, with Beers carding a double-double with 18 rebounds.

Tennessee struck first on a Robertson three-pointer and led during the early going until Oklahoma moved ahead 6-5 on a pair of Chavez free throws with 6:26 remaining. A pair of Deniya Prawl buckets in the paint and a Robertson three pushed the Lady Vols back in front, 12-8, heading into the 4:59 media break. A Civil transition layup extended the Big Orange lead to six, 14-8, with 3:27 to go, but OU scored the next seven to grab a 15-14 edge with 2:12 on a pair of Verhulst charity tosses. Treys by Cooper and Civil lifted UT back on top 20-15 with 1:22 to go. Civil later added a put-back to offset a pair of home team buckets to help her squad take a 22-20 margin after one.

Back-to-back layups by Prawl and Civil pushed Tennessee back to a six-point lead, 26-20 by the 8:38 mark of the second stanza. After Oklahoma countered, the Lady Vols got a layup by Cooper and a pair of Mia Pauldo free throws to build their largest lead at eight, 30-22. UT got a free throw from Civil to take a 31-26 lead into the 4:59 media break. After an OU bucket, Robertson drained another trey to push the gap back to six, 34-28. The Big Orange continued to repel Sooner advances and maintained five-point leads on two Civil free throws at the 2:49 mark (41-36), a Cooper layup with 2:27 to go (43-38) and a Cooper jumper (45-40) with just under two minutes left. Oklahoma, though, responded by scoring the last seven points of the half to take a 47-45 edge into the intermission.

Tennessee began the third period in strong fashion, getting consecutive threes from Robertson and Prawl to seize a 51-47 lead with 9:16 to go. After Oklahoma scored six straight to take a 53-51 edge, a Cooper layup, Zee Spearman free throw and Cooper free throw enabled the Lady Vols to even things up at 55 entering the 5:48 media timeout. A Mia Pauldo free throw pulled her team within one, 57-56, with 4:57 left, and a pair of Robertson charity tosses did the same at 59-58, with 4:27 to go. OU, though, began to separate late in the frame, leading by as many as nine after a pair of Chavez free throws with 16 ticks on the clock, but two Cooper charity tosses with 6.6 left trimmed the deficit to seven, 71-64, to close out the quarter.

A corner three by Civil gave Tennessee a jolt to open the final period, and a Lauren Hurst three-ball, Alyssa Latham turnaround jumper and Robertson free throw whittled the deficit to three, 76-73, with 6:39 remaining. Oklahoma, though, countered with an 8-2 burst to push the margin back to nine, 84-75, by the 4:45 media break. The Big Orange would not go away, as two Cooper free throws and a pair of layups by the redshirt junior drew UT within five, 86-81, with 3:46 to go. A pair of Verhulst free throws restored the OU lead to seven, 88-81, with 3:37 remaining. After the Sooners pushed the lead back to nine, 90-81, Tennessee used a Latham layup, Spearman three and free throws by Spearman to creep within 93-88 with 45 seconds to go. A Civil put-back cut the deficit to three, 93-90, with 32 seconds remaining, and Robertson's trio of charity tosses that cut the margin to four, 97-93, with 27 ticks left were UT's final stabs before the hosts closed the game out at the line.

NEXT UP
Tennessee is back on the road next week, as it travels to Baton Rouge, La., for a Thursday night match-up with No. 7/7 LSU. The Lady Vols and Tigers will meet at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET). The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN and also carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming available on UTSports.com.

COOP CONTINUES TO EXCEL
Talaysia Cooper's 22 points led the Lady Vols in scoring for the 11th time in 2025-26 and 25th time during her career. Cooper now has scored 20+ five times this season (including three times in the last four games) and 17 occurrences during her collegiate career. Additionally, it was Cooper's 22nd time in double figures this campaign, leading the Lady Vols.

CAREER NIGHT FOR CIVIL
Freshman Jaida Civil had herself a game, notching her first career double-double with a career-high 21 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. It marked the fourth time the freshman scored in double figures this season. Civil has been a menace on the boards as well, logging six or more caroms in nine games this season.

HITTING FROM BEYOND THE ARC
The Lady Vols have now made 10+ threes on 14 occasions, which is the second-most times in school history. Tennessee has hit at least 10 in seven of its last eight games. The Big Orange rank in the top ten nationally in threes made per game (9.6).