BLOOMINGTON, Ind. >> Florida Gulf Coast got off to a blazing start against Oklahoma, but the Sooners were able to weather the storm.

Skylar Vann scored 24 points and fifth-seeded Oklahoma held off No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast 73-70 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

“It set a fire under us,” Sooners guard Sahara Williams said. “It’s March, no one wants to go home. We stayed together, played our game and knew what we had to do.”

Oklahoma (23-9) will face No. 4 seed Indiana (25-5) in the second round on Monday night.

Payton Verhulst gave the Sooners a 72-70 lead on a turnaround jumper in the paint with 48 seconds left. After a Eagles’ turnover, Vann hit one of two free throws with 15 seconds left to push the Sooners’ lead to 73-70.

Dolly Cairns’ 3-point shot was blocked by Vann with 3 seconds left. The Eagles got the rebound with a second left. Uju Ezeudu missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied it.

“They got a pretty good look at a 3 but it didn’t go in, so we’re happy and we’re going to learn from that,” Verhulst said.

Williams scored 14 and Verhulst added 11 for the Sooners.

“Florida Gulf Coast led for 32 minutes, but I feel like we talk a lot as a team that you want to go on the last run and I feel like that’s what we did,” Verhulst said. “