Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics
Cowgirls Drop Bedlam Following Fourth Quarter OU Comeback
STILLWATER – After playing three solid quarters of defensive basketball, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls came up short late following a 30-point fourth quarter from Oklahoma as they fell 77-55.
“Obviously, this one hurts a lot,” said Oklahoma State head coach Jim Littell. “We put ourselves in a position to win a basketball game and I’ve got to do a better job of helping our kids finish games out. We got away from some defensive schemes and missed a lot of assignments. Didn’t run very good offense, that comes down to me on that. We had a collapse at the end and we gave up 30 points in the fourth quarter. Give credit to Oklahoma, they hung in there and had every opportunity to not finish a game, but they did finish. Made big shot every big shot, made big plays and we didn’t and that’s the difference in the ball game. We didn’t finish up the last 2:30 of the game and this one will hurt for quite a while, but you’ve got to come back. This is an 18-game schedule and we’ve got to get one [win] someplace else for letting this one get away.”
The Cowgirls had a strong showing all the way up until the final three minutes of the ball game. Over the course of the game, they forced 30 OU turnovers, with 19 steals, and they scored 30 points off of those turnovers.
Coach Littell mentioned getting away from defensive schemes and missing assignments, the Cowgirls held a 13-point lead with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma finished the game on a 16-1 run while hitting seven of their last seven shots. They also held Oklahoma State to no field goals in the final 2:56 of the game, including a scoreless final 1:18.
Another factor in the loss was that the Sooners shot 63 percent from 3-point range as they knocked down 12-of-19, while Oklahoma State shot just 52.4 percent from the free throw line, hitting just 11 out of 21 from the charity stripe.
But there’s no doubt that the two Cowgirl leaders left it all out on the court. Junior Natasha Mack played nearly 39 minutes of the game and scored 18 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field, including a dunk on a fast break, while junior Vivian Gray played all 40 minutes of the game and scored 22 points on 7-of-26 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
The Cowgirls are back on the court this coming Sunday as they travel to Waco to face No. 6 Baylor. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and is being televised on ESPNU.
