Sooners Fall To No. 24 North Carolina At Jumpman Invitational

Oklahoma struggled offensively in the second half and fell to No. 24 North Carolina, 61-52, at Tuesday night's Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte.

Payton Verhulst had a team-high 15 points and five rebounds, while Skylar Vann notched a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double in the loss. The defeat moved Oklahoma to 6-4 on the season with all four losses coming to opponents who have appeared in the AP Top 25 this year. 

"I thought our first quarter was really good," head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "Then in the second quarter we didn't attack the paint like we did early on. Honestly, I feel like we got really good looks that normally go down for us and tonight they just didn't."

The Sooners led 23-16 after the first frame, but the Tar Heels (8-4) held the Sooners to just 29 points the rest of the night as the potent Oklahoma offense couldn't find a breakthrough. Tied at 36 at the break, North Carolina held OU scoreless for the first 5:42 of the second half, as OU scored four points in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth quarter as Carolina pulled away.

OU shot 26% as a team and made just one 3-pointers in the loss. The Sooners pulled down 44 rebounds compared to UNC's 49, and OU dished out seven assists. True freshman Sahara Williams scored seven points and gathered eight rebounds before fouling out late in the contest.

Vann's double-double was her first of the season and ninth of her career, while Verhulst led the team in scoring for the second time this season. 

Oklahoma closes its non-conference schedule on Friday, Dec. 22, when Southern comes to Norman for a noon matchup at Lloyd Noble Center.