Oklahoma State Back in AP Top 25 After Undefeated Week

Oklahoma State’s big week has pushed it back into the top 25.

On Monday, the AP released its latest women’s basketball rankings, and OSU was featured in the top 25 for the second time this season. The Cowgirls dropped out of the poll last week, but a strong couple of performances in the past few days has them at No. 24.

OSU’s most recent win came in Lubbock, narrowly holding on to defeat a pesky Texas Tech team. However, the Cowgirls’ ascension back into the top 25 has much more to do with its matchup against then-No. 9 TCU on Wednesday.

After trailing for most of the night, the Cowgirls made a furious comeback in the final minutes, with Stailee Heard's go-ahead 3-pointer with under a minute left giving them a lead they held the rest of the way. That win gave TCU its second loss of the season and ended its undefeated start to Big 12 play.

OSU followed that inspired win with a solid victory at Texas Tech. While the Cowgirls nearly gave the game away in the final minutes, they had control for most of the contest and did just enough to escape with an important win.

Earlier this season, a win against a top 20 West Virginia team pushed the Cowgirls into the top 25 for the first time in seven years. However, they couldn’t hang onto their No. 24 spot for long, as a loss against Houston, which was previously winless in Big 12, threw them back into the receiving votes range.

Coming into last week, OSU was effectively ranked No. 31 and was faced with its toughest challenge of the season. Although the program lost some of its momentum, Jacie Hoyt never let her team take its focus off of the big picture.

Not only did the quality win against TCU on Wednesday say a lot about the team, but the way it responded at UCF following a loss and won again at Texas Tech showed this team’s ceiling could be higher than many believed. Of course, it is still only January and there is plenty of basketball left to be played.

But if there is anything to take away from the Cowgirls’ first 20 games, it is that their hot start is far from a fluke. The Cowgirls will continue their journey to the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday when they host Arizona State at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

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