NORMAN — It had been a long journey for Jennie Baranczyk to get to this point.

The fourth-year Sooners coach is in her 12th NCAA Tournament as either a player or coach. But Baranczyk had never made it past the Round of 32, including in her first three seasons in Norman. She led the Sooners to the Round of 32 in each of her first three seasons, with every team suffering heartbreak and falling just short of the Sweet 16.

On Monday, she broke through.

The No. 3-seeded Sooners routed six-seed Iowa, 96-62, advancing them to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. It was a special moment for the Iowa native, who beat her hometown team and reached a career milestone in the same game.

But when Baranczyk was asked to reflect on her career, she turned it towards her team.

"I love this team," Baranczyk said. "I love coaching this team. I love the lessons that we continue to learn, and they've been hard lessons and it's not always sunshine and rainbows, but that's what makes it so beautiful and amazing, and they test you every day, and we all mess up. We all get up and keep going. I'm so glad that we get another day together."

It was easy to see why in the Sooners' 46-point victory.

The Sooners were off to a rocky start at the Lloyd Noble Center, falling behind 10-4 early in the first quarter. But they quickly took control behind a 16-1 run to end the first quarter, and they went into halftime with an 11-point lead.

If there were any doubts, the Sooners squashed them after outscoring the Hawkeyes 30-16 in the third quarter. From there, the Sooners were largely able to celebrate and coast through the fourth quarter.

It was an all-around performance for Baranczyk's team, as they showcased the depth that has pushed them to a 27-7 overall record and propelled them as a host site for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Leading-scorer Reagan Beers rebounded from early foul trouble, finishing with an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double. Senior Skylar Vann led the team with 17 points. The Sooners had five players finish with double-digit scoring. They squashed Iowa 64-33 on the glass and held the Hawkeyes to 36% shooting from the floor.

"If you look at the stats, I mean, we have multiple scorers today," Vann said. "To have that, that's how connected we were. We were giving each other the ball. We were really being aggressive on offense and defense, getting rebounds, getting second opportunities to score.

"When we do those things, when we're so connected that nothing else matters, we're a great team, and we're hard to beat."

It was a proud moment for Baranczyk who has spent the last four seasons working to build the team's locker-room culture and the investment from fans. Baranczyk's first three seasons featured plenty of success — the Sooners posted a 74-26 overall record and won conference championships in both 2023 and 2024. But those seasons all ended in some variety of disappointment, particularly in 2022, when the fourth-seed Sooners were also a host site but still fell by 44 points to Notre Dame.

There were 3,258 people in the stands at the Lloyd Noble Center for that disappointing loss to Notre Dame. In Monday's win over Iowa, there were 8,138.

There was a lot to celebrate for both Baranczyk and the Sooners.

"Today's, I think, one of those validation points when you play for joy and play together look at what happens," Baranczyk said. "That's what we want this program to be all about is you play -- everyone says play for the front of your jersey, but it's deeper than that. You answer to one and then you get to play for and with your teammates. And I think you could tell they did that today. The connection they had on that floor was pretty darn special. So that's probably my proudest moment."

The Sooners now take that into next week's Sweet 16, where they'll face either Connecticut or South Dakota State. And while there's plenty to celebrate now, Baranczyk made it clear that it's only for a moment.

"I don't think we're done yet."

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