NORMAN, Okla. – Fourteen-seed Florida Gulf Coast University women's basketball put up a valiant fight against third-seeded Oklahoma on their home floor Saturday, but the Eagles ultimately succumbed to the Sooners' presence in the paint to drop the NCAA Tournament First-Round rematch 81-58.
Oklahoma outrebounded FGCU 72-35, an NCAA Tournament record. The Sooners also snagged 23 offensive boards for easy second-chance points. Despite the wide rebound margin and the roster size discrepancy that the Eagles faced, FGCU only trailed by seven, 55-47, heading into the fourth quarter. The Eagles were only a few shots away from grabbing a late-game lead over the No. 11 ranked team in the country.
"They are just a resilient bunch," head coach Chelsea Lyles said. "They don't back down from a challenge, and they don't play to the scoreboard. So, they continued to play hard and continued to attack. We just had a few lapses going into the fourth, and we couldn't come back from that. But there was never a doubt in my mind that we would come out and compete."
In the early minutes of the first-round rematch, Dolly Cairns scored the first points of the game with an old-fashioned three-point play as the Eagles aimed for another fast start. Cerina Rolle hit two triples to give FGCU a 9-7 advantage.
The inevitable OU runs began shortly after. The Sooners used a 12-0 run to take a 19-9 lead over the Eagles, After one in Norman, FGCU trailed 21-12.
The Sooners then scored the first nine points of the second period as the game teetered on the brink of a blowout. Down what looked to be an insurmountable 28-12, FGCU showed fight. FGCU used a mini 5-0 run that soon exploded to a 9-0 spurt, pulling the Eagles back with 10 at 31-21. Casey Santoro fired up a triple, cutting the deficit even more and down to just seven, 33-26.
FGCU found itself down a manageable 10 points, 36-26, heading into halftime. However, OU pushed the lead back out to 16 in the third, up 54-38 with three minutes to play in the period.
The Eagles used every bit of the 3:39 left to draw within six, 54-48, courtesy of a gritty 10-0 run. During the run, Skyler Gill picked off a Sooners paint pass, ran the floor and found Karina Gordon for a knockdown three, forcing a OU timeout. Gill put the Eagles on her back, scoring nine of her 11 points in the third.
"I wish I could have spent all four years here," Gill said. "I'm upset that I didn't, but I can't change it now. So, I had to give it all I had with my one year."
FGCU had the Sooners with a striking-distance eight points three separate times in the fourth, including as late as 6:07 left, but the Eagles could not draw any closer. Over the final 4:51 of the game, OU finished the game on a 19-4 run to end FGCU's season.
Regan Beers produced nine points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter alone for the Sooners. For the game, Beers scored a game-high 25 points and 18 rebounds. Beers and Sylar Vann combined to score 49 points of OU, proving just too much for the Eagles to contain down the stretch. FGCU made two of its last 11 shots.
For FGCU, Dolly Carins led the way with 15 points, shooting 4-of-9 from deep. Gill provided the third-quarter spark and finished with 11 points, three assists and three rebounds. Emani Jefferson pitched in 12 points in just 16 minutes on the court dealing with early foul trouble.
"Just credit to my teammates for getting the ball to me when I'm open," Cairns said. "I wish a couple more went down, but just credit to my teammates for setting screens for me, looking for me and getting the ball to me when I was open."
FGCU closed its 2024-25 campaign at 30-4 under first-year head coach Lyles. Under her direction, the Eagles preserved the winning standard and captured their ninth straight Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament title to reach the Big Dance for the 11th time in program history.
