No. 20 Cowgirls Falter in Final Minutes, Suffer Upset Loss at BYU
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The Cowgirls’ momentum came to a screeching halt on the road.
On Saturday, No. 20 Oklahoma State lost 68-64 to BYU at Marriott Center in Provo. The loss was OSU’s first in two weeks and came despite a significant advantage in the turnover battle.
Trailing by two in the final minute, Stailee Heard lost the ball out of bounds on a drive, forcing the Cowgirls to foul Amari Whiting with 23 seconds left. Whiting missed both, but BYU’s Kambree Barber’s offensive rebound and layup pushed the lead to four with only 21.5 seconds left.
Micah Gray’s three quickly cut the lead down to one. After a couple of BYU free throws, OSU had another look from the left corner for the tie but couldn’t convert to seal the loss.
After Anna Gret Asi’s 3-pointer put OSU up five, the Cougars looked to make a late run. An untimely turnover gave OSU a chance to build the lead, but a forced shot from Asi kickstarted a BYU run.
A three from Delaney Gibb cut the lead to two before the Cougars took the lead with under four minutes left on Emma Calvert’s second-chance bucket a few possessions later. The Cowgirls began to settle in again, with a couple of Asi free throws tying the game to end a 7-0 BYU run at the 2:30 mark.
After a back-and-forth third quarter that featured some lead changes and ties, Macey Huard’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent OSU into the final frame with a 51-47 advantage.
While Heard has been the driving force behind OSU’s rise to the top 20, she was far from her usual self in Provo. After a scoreless first quarter, Heard entered halftime with only two points and didn’t make a field goal until the final minute of the third. With Heard struggling, the Cowgirls had to rely on some of their other key players, with Asi and Tenin Magassa leading them in scoring with 13 apiece.
The Cowgirls have been no stranger to playing tight road games, but they began the contest looking to avoid one, with the first few minutes going in favor of the Cowgirls. Following big wins against Kansas State and Arizona, OSU began this matchup with a 9-0 run.
However, the Cougars weren’t ready to go away in the opening minutes. BYU responded well throughout the rest of the quarter and drew even in the second quarter. While the Cougars’ first lead didn’t come until the third quarter, their response to an early deficit was impressive and gave OSU another road challenge.
The Cowgirls will get another challenge on the road when they face Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.