The penultimate game of the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Women's Tournament followed the chalk and will put the UConn Huskies against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Geno Auriemma's squad is the heavy favorite to make the Elite Eight of the two programs. The Huskies haven't lost a game in months and have faced little resistance in the NCAA Tournament, crushing Arkansas State and South Dakota State by a combined 103 points in the first two rounds.
Oklahoma's road to the Sweet Sixteen wasn't much harder. After easily dispatching Florida Gulf Coast, the 3-seed put a whooping on the Iowa Hawkeyes, remaining the team how different life will be post-Caitlin Clark.
How to watch UConn vs. Oklahoma
- Date: Saturday, March 29
- Time: 5:30pm ET
- Venue: Spokane Arena in Spokane, WA
- How to Watch (TV): ESPN
- Streaming: fubo TV
- UConn record: 33-3
- Oklahoma record: 27-7
UConn vs. Oklahoma odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- UConn -1500
- Oklahoma +790
Spread
- UConn -14.5 (-114)
- Oklahoma +14.5 (-106)
Total
- 153.5 (over -110/under -100)
UConn injury report
- Morgan Cheli, G: Out (ankle)
Oklahoma injury report
- N/A
UConn and Oklahoma series history
- UConn all-time record vs. Oklahoma: 13-0
UConn vs. Oklahoma prediction
Let's start with that damning statistic above: in 13 opportunities, the Sooners have never been able to beat the Huskies. That includes during the 2002 National Championship game, a victory for UConn that capped an unbeaten season and a third straight title run, spearheaded by Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Diana Taurasi.
UConn's 2024-25 squad can't rival one of the best starting lineups in the history of the sport, but it's nothing to shrug at, either. The Huskies have a trio of legitimate stars, led by Paige Bueckers. The guard has made it clear that she's ready to move on to the pros after this NCAA Tournament run, so she's got every motivation to grab her first and only collegiate title.
Oklahoma's got a few good players too, none more menacing than junior center Raegan Beers. The Oregon State transfer averages 17.5 points per game and nobody pulled down more rebounds on the opening weekend than her 31. There could be some fascinating clashes between Beers and UConn freshman Sarah Strong.
A fun little nugget is that these schools met a mere eight days earlier, but with the men playing. The Huskies topped the Sooners by eight points in that game before seeing its campaign for a third straight title on the men's side come to a close.
While Beers may be the most intimidating post player in this game, Bueckers is the best overall, with the motivation to seize this moment, especially in the wake of the Juju Watkins injury for USC. Bueckers is averaging 19.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game and just dropped 34 on the Jackrabbits.
While Oklahoma has the offensive firepower to keep apace with the Huskies, they haven't always shown it this season. In fact, the Sooners have a losing record against ranked opponents this season.
An opportunity for Bueckers to finally take home the title opened when Watkins went down. UConn should show its ready to seize it.
Prediction: UConn 80, Oklahoma 68