How Much Will Cowgirls' Losses Hold Them Back in NCAA Tournament Seeding?

Oklahoma State’s ceiling is among the highest in the country, but its floor has raised concerns.

OSU women’s basketball is in the midst of its best season in some time. With a 25-6 record entering the NCAA Tournament, the Cowgirls have already secured a top-two winning percentage in program history. While the .818 mark from the Cowgirls' 17-6 season in 1991 is safe, barring a national title run, this team has shown it has a serious case for being the best team in OSU history.

Despite the seemingly obvious capabilities this team has, there have been too many missteps to fully trust this team in a win-or-go-home setting. For every great win that has bolstered the Cowgirls’ NCAA Tournament standing, there also exists a loss that draws questions about how good the team actually is.

OSU’s nonconference slate featured only one loss, coming against Richmond 57-53 in the Daytona Beach Classic. Although Richmond isn’t from a power conference, it is one of the top mid-major teams in the country, holding a 27-6 record overall and going 17-1 in A-10 play. With the Spiders projected as a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, it is difficult to consider this game a bad loss.

OSU had a couple of other losses against good teams during the Big 12 slate. The Cowgirls lost at West Virginia 54-37 in their largest loss of the season and narrowly lost to Baylor in overtime in the Big 12 Tournament. Going into both of those matchups, OSU had already earned a win over those teams, which are both locks for the big dance.

That leaves OSU with three losses against non-tournament teams. The first came in early January in OSU’s third conference game, falling to Kansas 75-66 in OSU’s only home loss of the season. While Kansas isn’t a tournament team, it went 16-14 overall, plus OSU avenged its loss to the Jayhawks by winning in Lawrence in the regular season finale.

OSU also suffered a loss at BYU toward the end of the regular season, with the 13-17 Cougars spoiling OSU’s hopes of moving up in the rankings. However, one loss still stands out above the rest.

On Jan. 14, OSU matched up against a Houston team that was winless in Big 12 play and was looking like the worst team in the conference. While OSU only lost by three with a 79-76 final, it trailed by as much as 26 in the second half. Stailee Heard’s missed three that could’ve tied the game secured perhaps the worst loss of any team in the NCAA Tournament field this season.

Houston finished the season 5-25, with its win over OSU being its only in Big 12 play. Houston’s other four victories came against 6-23 Houston Christian, 12-17 Alcorn State, 26-4 Southeastern Louisiana and 8-23 Mississippi Valley State.

It’s difficult to tell the story of OSU’s season without mentioning the loss to Houston and other missteps. Still, the Cowgirls are NCAA Tournament bound and will have a chance to prove their doubters wrong on the biggest stage.

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