Cowgirl Basketball Must Take Advantage of Bounce-Back Opportunity vs. UCF

OSU needs to get back in the win column on Saturday.

Oklahoma State guard Stailee Heard (32) passes the ball away from Oklahoma forward Sahara Williams (6) during the first half of a Bedlam women's college basketball game between the OSU Cowgirls and OU Sooners at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. | NATE BILLINGS/FOR THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma State has a must-win game this weekend.

On Saturday, OSU women’s basketball will host UCF as it looks to get back on the right track following a Wednesday night loss at Arizona State. While the Cowgirls were expected to come out on top against the Sun Devils, Arizona State is still a solid team looking to make a run at the NCAA Tournament and simply got the best of the Cowgirls.

With offense struggling throughout the night, OSU couldn’t find any sort of rhythm against Arizona State, which is especially frustrating considering OSU won the rebounding and turnover battles. Ideally, OSU will be able to take out its frustration on UCF when the Knights enter Gallagher-Iba Arena for a Saturday afternoon affair.

Over the first few weeks of Big 12 play, the Cowgirls haven’t been able to find the consistency they’ve needed to take the next step in 2026. While OSU certainly has the talent to be in the upper echelon of the Big 12, showing that in the win column has been a struggle at times.

While the game against Arizona State is frustrating for OSU, the Cowgirls still can hold their heads high knowing they lost to a team that will potentially be tournament bound, as the Sun Devils moved into the last team in in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.

Still, as the Cowgirls look to avoid falling from their current projection as an 8 seed, they have no choice but to take care of business on their home floor on Saturday. Sure, Arizona State is a good team and a road loss to that squad is understandable, but the same can’t be said about a home game against UCF.

The Knights come into their matchup against the Cowgirls with a 10-12 overall record and a 2-9 mark against Big 12 competition. For a better idea of how bad UCF has been this season, eight of its nine conference losses have been by double digits and it will enter Stillwater riding a four-game losing streak.

ESPN Analytics gives UCF only a 3.6% chance of winning, making this one as important as any for OSU to take care of business in. While the Arizona State loss ended OSU’s chances of riding a four-game winning streak into its matchup against a ranked Texas Tech squad next weekend, the Cowgirls still have a chance to get back on track going into that matchup, and it has to start with a convincing win against the Big 12’s second-worst team.

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