Why Jennie Baranczyk needs her freshmen to grow up quick in final stretch of season

At the beginning of the season, OU women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk told the media she needed her true freshmen to be sophomores immediately.

What she meant by that is she needed her trio of talented true freshmen — Aaliyah Chavez, Brooklyn Stewart and Keziah Lofton — to grow up quickly. And so far, through 22 games this season, they have risen to the challenge. Chavez is considered one of the best freshmen in the country, winning SEC Freshman of the Week six times. Chavez is averaging 18.5 points per game, which is the most in the conference and fourth-most in the country among freshmen. And Stewart and Lofton have been key contributors off the bench, averaging 15.7 and 12.4 minutes per game, respectively.

Still, with seven games remaining this season and the Sooners wanting to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, Baranczyk wants more from her freshmen.

“They’re never where you want them to be, but they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be,” Baranczyk said on Friday. “But I think that there’s more. Our team has a ceiling that is so much greater than where we’re at right now.”

For OU to reach that ceiling, it’s going to need its freshmen to continue to play at an even higher level. The 11th-ranked Sooners will face three ranked opponents in their final seven games, starting at No. 7 Vanderbilt on Monday night.

That’s nothing new for veteran players like seniors Raegan Beers and Payton Verhulst, and junior Sahara Williams. All three were major reasons why OU made it to the Sweet 16 last year. But for Chavez, Stewart and Lofton, learning how to play a gauntlet of a schedule is an adjustment.

“Payton understands it. Raegan understands it. They’ve been there, they’ve done that. Sahara can feel that,” Baranczyk said. “But when your freshmen have never done that, it’s a little bit more challenging. I mean, look at the difference — and we want it done yesterday. But look at the difference in how we played at South Carolina last year. We played them twice, and the first time to the second time was very, very different. This year was very, very different. You have to live, and you have to learn. And we want everything yesterday.

“But you guys, this is our second year in the SEC, and it is legit. And we have to be better. I promise that we’ll be better, and we have to learn. And you know, sometimes you got 18 and 19-year-olds in a league they’ve never felt, and we have a lot of them… They’re going to be better for it. I mean, think about how much better Aaliyah is going to be. Think about Keziah (Lofton), Brooklyn Stewart — you can see them getting better and better as time has gone on. And so that’s really encouraging. Look at the difference of a year between what Zya Vann has done and what she’s doing this year.”

The future is certainly bright for Baranczyk’s crew. The next few years OU intends to be a true contender.

But the Sooners also believe they are this year, too. And they’ve proven they can be, beating No. 3 South Carolina just a couple of weeks ago and playing Texas close on the road this past weekend. But if they are really going to contend in this year’s tournament, they’re going to need those freshmen to be sophomores by year’s end.

“It’s time that we get a little bit more assertive and we grow, and we have some decisions to make in doing that, and how we impact a game,” Baranczyk said. “I can tell you this week in practices it looks different, but until we throw that ball up on Monday, I don’t know. And so I’m excited to be able to see us. So are we where we’re at or where I want them to be? No. And maybe that’s a really good thing, because I think there’s a lot more to us.”