Beers' double-double leads No. 13 Oklahoma past No. 20 Alabama 91-84 to claim SEC's No. 5 seed

NORMAN, Okla. -- — Raegan Beers scored 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and battled through a third-quarter injury to lead No. 13 Oklahoma to a 91-84 win over No. 20 Alabama on Sunday to clinch the No. 5 seed into the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The Sooners finished their first season in the SEC on a seven-game win streak. Both teams will have a bye through the first round of the SEC that begins Wednesday in Greenville, S.C. Oklahoma, the No. 5 seed, and Alabama, the No. 6 each play a second-round game Thursday.

The teams battled to a 45-45 tie at intermission, but Oklahoma took the lead after Beers, a transfer from Oregon State, tipped in a Lexy Keys miss and added a free throw to make it 54-53 with seven minutes left and start a 9-0 run. Beers went down while battling for an offensive rebound with more than three minutes left in the quarter, clutching her knee and wincing in pain while the game continued. She got up gingerly and continued, grabbing three rebounds as she worked through the discomfort.

Alabama trailed by as many as 10 points late in the fourth quarter, but Sarah Ashlee Barker got to the line for two free throws and Karly Weathers scored at the basket then knocked down a 3 to get within five with under a minute left. Barker got to the basket for a layup to make 87-84 with :17 left but Payton Verhulst hit five straight free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Verhulst finished with 24 points, hitting four 3-pointers and 6 of 7 at the line, to lead Oklahoma (23-6, 11-5). Sahara Williams added 15 points.

Zaay Green led Alabama (23-7, 10-6) with 27 points, six rebounds and five assists. Barker finished with 20, Aaliyah Nye 15 and Essence Cody 12.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball