Oklahoma State Can't Hold Second-Half Lead, Eliminated by South Dakota State

The Cowgirls’ season abruptly came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 7 seed Oklahoma State lost 74-68 to No. 10 seed South Dakota State on Saturday. The Cowgirls had a solid afternoon but couldn’t recover after losing their double-digit lead.

Trailing by five with under two minutes left, Micah Gray missed a three, which led to a runout and a bucket on the other end. On the ensuing possession, Tenin Magassa earned a couple of free throws and split them to get it back to a two-possession game. After SDSU split free throws, Anna Gret Asi’s three cut the deficit to four with 51.2 seconds left.

OSU coughed up a double-digit lead in the third and failed to respond in the opening stages of the fourth, allowing SDSU to score the first four points of the quarter and prompting a Jacie Hoyt timeout. OSU immediately turned it over out of the timeout, leading to a Paige Meyer layup to push the lead to eight. Finally breaking through on the offensive glass, OSU got its first two second-chance buckets on the next two possessions to cut that lead back down.

While the Jackrabbits’ offense began to come alive in the second half, Tenin Magassa shut down their attack in the first two quarters. With five of her eight blocks before halftime, Magassa was one of the Cowgirls’ most impactful players and added 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

After having a solid first half to help OSU to a halftime lead, Stailee Heard began to put her mark on the contest in the third quarter. She scored 10 points in the first frame out of halftime and pushed her total to 18 going to the fourth.

While OSU pushed its lead to as much as 11 in the third, SDSU bounced back and cut into the lead. The Jackrabbits used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one with 2:59 left and broke through to take the lead a minute later. SDSU continued that into an extended 14-3 run that would help it take a 52-50 lead into the final frame. OSU allowed more in the third quarter than it did the entire first half and put itself in a less-than-ideal position.

The Cowgirls played a solid first half and finally began to gain some separation toward the end of the second quarter. Unsurprisingly, it was one of OSU’s stars who delivered an outburst just before halftime.

Anna Gret Asi had been held scoreless through nearly the first 18 minutes of action before nailing a 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the second. Add in a layup with 43 seconds left and a banked-in three on the final possession of the half, and OSU suddenly surged ahead to a 31-24 lead at the break.