Aaliyah Chavez and the Oklahoma Sooners’ bid to down South Carolina for the second time this season went up in smoke. OU recorded a 68-94 blowout loss in the Sweet Sixteen. It got to the star Oklahoma freshman who was counting on reaching greatness by advancing furhter in the postseason.

In a conversation with Oklahoma’s Colton Sulley following the defeat, Chavez sent a strong, confident message about the Sooners’ upcoming season, despite her struggle to handle the emotions after a tough Sweet 16 loss.

“It’s going to be scary next year,” Chavez said. “Obviously, we have a lot of people coming back. We came out hard and man, this freshman group in general is gonna be special. Obviously, I’m really close with them. It’s just gonna be amazing this year.”

With Chavez in play, the Sooners’ ceiling is bound to rise for as long as she’s with the program. But the departures of senior players like Raegan Beers and Payton Verhulst will put pressure on the young talent. The freshman group will have to step up their game, an instance that hasn’t happened often this season. Except for Brooklyn Stewart and Chavez, the rest of the rookies haven’t really come together in their first year.

And it’s no surprise that Chavez will be at the center of this roster rebuilding. The Oklahoma freshman played her part quite well in the South Carolina game blowout, too. The Oklahoma freshman logged 37 minutes in the game, recording 21 points and dishing out 3 assists. She finished her career averaging 18.3 points — not a bad look for an All-SEC Freshman Team honoree.

But, against South Carolina, except for Beers and  Verhulst, Chavez didn’t get much support from the squad. As with a lack of substantial support, Oklahoma was always going to face difficulty taking down a team like the South Carolina Gamecocks. Sooners’ shooting looked a bit cold for most part of the game, going just 26 of 66 from the field and 6 of 20 from the deep.

On an individual note, too, Chavez missed several field goals, going 8-21 in FG and 3-11 from the 3-point line. However, it wasn’t Chavez’s fault. The Gamecocks drew the defense on her perfectly because even head coach Dawn Staley would remember what she did the last time these two teams met (26 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists). Gamecocks senior Ta’Niya Latson highlighted her team’s strategy to minimize Chavez’s impact on the game.

“We know we had to come out, start to finish, and we had to hit the first punch, and had to make everything difficult for Chavez,” she said. “She’s a really good freshman. We know that she can shoot the ball.”

With Chavez’s prowess limited to some extent by the Gamecocks’ defense, the Sooners also struggled with their offensive flow and crumbled to 70 points or fewer for just the third time this season, reflecting the team’s reliance on her.

Aaliyah Chavez Earns Immense Praise From Head Coach Jennie Baranczyk

Chavez’s performances saw her finish as the second-leading scorer in a freshman season in the Sooners program, right behind Courtney Paris’ 2006 season. As her record-setting season finally came to a close on Saturday, Sooners head coach Jennie Baranczyk didn’t hesitate to express her thoughts for Chavez in the post-game press conference.

“As we’re in the locker room and we have those moments when she says things and how much she’s grown as a person,” Barancazyk said. I think she’s grown more than a basketball player, and she’s more than just what’s on the court. She plays hard, she makes mistakes. She does really good things. So she has learned a lot, and she gives everything she has out there on the court.”

“She’s learning to be a leader, and she’s learning to have a really cool friend group to tell you the truth and people they love you and care about you,” the Sooners’ head coach added.

There’s no doubt that Aaliyah Chavez will improve more with time as her collegiate stint progresses. The skills she has displayed on the court also give hope that Chavez has WNBA ceiling. But for now, she’ll have to embrace a new role in the upcoming seasons of her Sooners career. With multiple seniors bidding goodbye to the program, Chavez will have to shoulder the responsibility of calling the shots on the court.

It would be interesting to see how the 19-year-old fits into that role and, subsequently, stands out in light of the warning she sent to the other teams after Oklahoma’s defeat to the Gamecocks this season.