Oklahoma City – After an exciting opening day of the 2026 Sooner Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by Athletic Solutions, three of the top four seeds moved on to the semifinals, while the No. 8 seed pulled off one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
 
No. 8 Texas Wesleyan 60, No.1 Langston 56
 
Texas Wesleyan outscored the top-seeded Lions 16-9 in the fourth quarter to overcome a three-point deficit to defeat Langston 60-56 in the first opening round game of the tournament. It is the first time that the eight seed has upset the top seed in the tournament in recent memory.
 
The Lions raced out to a 31-27 advantage at the halftime break by shooting 10-of 27 from the field as they hit six triples in the half. The Rams countered by shooting 9-of 21 from the field with six three-point shots made of their own. After cutting the lead to 47-46 at the end of the third quarter and falling behind 56-53 with 2:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Rams scored the final seven points of the game with Kameryn Phillips scoring with 30 seconds left to give Texas Wesleyan the lead for good.
 
Phillips led the way for the Rams with 16 points and six rebounds while Aniyah Stanford and Nala Richardson each chipped in with 12 markers as Texas Wesleyan improved to 14-15 on the year. Areyanna Hunter poured in 17 points to pace the Lions, with Janiyah Tucker scoring 10 points as Langston falls to 24-5.
 
No. 4 College of the Ozarks 90, No. 5 Science & Arts 81
 
Logan Jones scored a season high 32 points in 40 minutes of action to lead College of the Ozarks to a 90-81 victory over Science & Arts in the second opening round contest on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Bobcats open the game by taking a 27-19 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended the advantage to 47-38 at the break, before the Drovers outscored the Bobcats 34-22 in the third frame to take a 72-69 lead as the teams headed into the final stanza. College of the Ozarks then scored the first six points of the fourth to take the lead and then finished the game on an 8-2 run to seal the victory.
 
Jones also added six rebounds to her 32 points, while Keara Mattingley scored 16 points and grabbed five boards with Savannah Ketchum having a game-high 10 rebounds as the Bobcats improved to 20-9 on the year. Jordyn Rollins and Ti’Alone Banks paced the Drovers attack with 18 points each, with Rollins collecting eight caroms as Science & Arts fell to 19-10 this season.
 
No. 2 Mid-America Christian 59, No. 7 Wayland Baptist 49
 
After falling behind by 13 points at the end of the first quarter, Mid-America Christian outscored Wayland Baptist 52-29 the rest of the way to collect a 59-49 victory over the Flying Queens to advance to the conference semifinals on Friday evening.
 
Wayland Baptist opened the game on a 13-2 run after Cania Mitchell converted a three-point play with 5:57 remaining in the opening frame and extended the lead as they grabbed a 20-7 advantage after the first quarter. The teams played even for the first portion of the second quarter until the Evangels put together an 11-2 run to end the half as they trailed 29-26. 
 
Mid-America Christian and Wayland Baptist battled for the first part of the third quarter until Aniya Smith scored in the paint to give the Evangels their first lead of the night at 40-39 with 2:29 remaining in the quarter. MACU maintained the lead the rest of the contest as they outscored the Flaying Queens 19-10 over the final 12 minutes of play to move on to the semifinals.
 
Talayah Thomas paced the Evangels with 14 points while Taliah Lee poured in 13 markers with Caitlynn Jordan collecting a game-high 14 rebounds as Mid-America Christian improved to 23-6 on the season. Mitchell led the way for Wayland Baptist as she scored 11 points and grabbed nine boards, while Brooklyn Birkenfled had nine points and 10 caroms as the Flying Queens fell to 12-16 on the season.
 
No. 3 Nelson 77, No. 6 John Brown 74 (Overtime)
 
After trailing by as many as 12 points late in the third quarter, Nelson battled back to force an extra session and took the lead for good with 1:41 remaining in the contest to secure a 77-74 victory over John Brown in the final game of the opening round.
 
The Golden Eagles started with a 9-2 run to open the contest and were able to maintain the advantage as they took a 17-9 lead after the first 10 minutes of action. The two teams played on even terms in the second frame as the Golden Eagles held a 30-23 lead as the teams headed into the locker room.
 
Nelson exploded at the start of the third quarter as they reeled off the first seven points of the half to even the contest at 30-30, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 19-10 run that gave them a 49-40 lead at the end of the third quarter. John Brown pushed the lead out to 60-48 with 3:26 left in the fourth before Nelson finished regulation with a 16-4 run to tie the game at 64-64 and force the extra session. The Lions were able to outscore John Brown in the extra five minutes, 13-10, to earn the thrilling win and advance to the semifinals.
 
Paris Miller led the way for the Lions with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Kate Miller chipped in with 14 markers as Nelson improved to 22-5 on the year. Sarah Snodgrass paced the Golden Eagles with 27 points and a game-high 16 boards while Abbey Sanders poured in 15 points and collected eight caroms as John Brown fell to 13-16 on the season.
 
 
The semifinals will begin at 5:30 on Friday evening with the upstart No. 8 seed Rams taking on No. 4 seed College of the Ozarks. The Bobcats swept the pair of regular-season contests this past season. The second semifinal will feature No. 2 seed Mid-America Christian and No. 3 seed Nelson starting at 7:30 p.m. The two teams split their regular-season series this past season.