Sherri Coale still optimistic after Oklahoma drops OT Bedlam loss in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, MO — Postseason Bedlam can be the most thrilling Bedlam.

And also the most painful.

On Friday night, in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament at Municipal Auditorium, Oklahoma blew a double-digit lead in the final five minutes then wilted in overtime in a 89-80 loss to Oklahoma State.

Coach Sherri Coale stayed with her seven-player rotation and the fatigue, she said, probably showed down the stretch — of Friday’s game, and of the season.

“The resilience they have shown,” Coale said, “I just told ‘em in the locker room, they got what they played for. … The season has rewarded them. Did they want to win? Oh my heavens, yeah. They wanted to win. But there are bigger things than winning, and this team, individually and collectively, they got the spoils of giving all you got and throwing your heart and soul in the ring and doing the best you can with the hand you’re dealt.

“It was extraordinary the effort that they showed.”

OU’s Skylar Vann hit a 3 with 3:45 to play in OT to give the Sooners a 74-73 lead, but sixth-seeded OU went cold and the Cowgirls took control with buckets from Taylen Collins, Ja’Mee Asberry and Natasha Mack.

It was Asberry’s 3 that gave 3-seed OSU an 82-76 lead — OSU’s biggest lead of the game to that point — with 1:52 to play and essentially put it away.

OU led by 13 at halftime and extended it to 38-23 on Madi Williams’ layup 10 seconds into the third quarter. The Sooners still worked a 46-33 lead with six minutes left in the quarter after another Williams layup.

A Taylor Robertson 3 as the third quarter wound down pushed the OU lead to 59-48, but a three-point play by Kassidy De Lapp in the final seconds of the period cut it to eight going into the fourth.

Robertson buried a contested 3 from the corner to beat the shot clock and give the Sooners a 62-54 lead, then scored on a back-cut layup to make it a 10-point game with 7:11 to play.

Williams’ layup with 5:28 to go pushed OU’s edge back to 66-56, but the Cowgirls scored on six straight possession: point-blank shots on four straight possessions from Lauren Fields, Taylen Collins and De Lapp, then back-to-back 3-pointers from Ja’Mee Asberry to cut it to 71-70 with 2:08 to play.

OSU’s Natasha Mack made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:27 left to tie it at 71 to set up the frenetic finish.

Mack nearly won it there with a desperation 3-pointer, but it was waved off as a shot clock violation.

Robertson scored 24 points, including a deep 3 in the final seconds, Williams scored 22, and Gabby Gregory and Vann combined for 25 as the Sooners hit just 4-of-15 shots in the fourth quarter and 2-of-11 in overtime.

Asberry scored 28 for the Cowgirls while Mack finished with 20.

OU shot 41 percent from the floor in the first half, including a 5-of-11 performance from the perimeter, while holding OSU to just 30 percent shooting. The Cowgirls made just 1-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half and scored just six points in the second quarter.

OSU (18-7, 13-5) now plays second-seeded West Virginia at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Mountaineers scored a buzzer-beater layup to beat Kansas State 58-56.

OU (12-12 overall, 9-9 in Big 12 play) came into the tournament having won four of its last five and six of its last eight but might have seen its season come to an end. The WNIT remains a possibility, but the NCAA Tournament seems a long shot.

“I’m an optimist,” Coale said. “You can’t tell me we’re not one of the 64 best teams in the country. ... We’ve put ourselves in the conversation, for sure.

“I think this year more than ever, the committee has room for feel. Because of COVID. They can go back and say look, ‘This team lost two games and the had six players.’ Or, ‘This team was right here and they had 14 days of quarantine.’

“I would hate to have their job. They have a very difficult job. But they have room to be human this year. They have space to make decisions on what they see. And I think they will look at that and they will see what this extraordinary group of seven people have done and what they might be able to do with a week off to come at ‘em full bore.”