Oklahoma State Narrowly Stays in AP Top 25 After Loss at BYU
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The Cowgirls can’t seem to get over the hump.
On Saturday, Oklahoma State lost to BYU on the road to move to 19-5 this season. With four losses in conference play, OSU’s hopes of taking the Big 12 regular season title are all but over.
After last weekend’s win against Kansas State helped the Cowgirls surge to the No. 20 spot in the AP poll, they faced the opposite reality this week. In Monday’s AP Top 25, the Cowgirls dropped to the No. 24 spot, which they have held multiple times earlier this season.
OSU’s drop is unsurprising, considering the team’s rough finish in Provo, but its performance against Arizona on Wednesday helped the Cowgirls avoid falling out of the rankings entirely.
OSU’s spot in the top 25 makes it one of five teams from the Big 12, with four teams ranked in the top 20. TCU leads the conference at No. 10, followed by Kansas State at No. 12, West Virginia at No. 17 and Baylor at No. 19.
OSU’s top goal for the rest of the season should still be to finish in the top four of the Big 12 standings. If OSU can finish there, it would get a bye for the first two rounds of the conference tournament and potentially set itself up for a Big 12 championship.
Of course, for OSU to finish at the top of the conference and make a deep run, it needs its star to play far better than she did Saturday. Against BYU, Stailee Heard had five points, her lowest scoring performance in a conference game this season. Her one make and six shot attempts also marked season-lows for Big 12 play.
A bounce-back performance from Heard will be crucial in the Cowgirls’ game on Tuesday when they match up with Utah. Now a game ahead of OSU in the conference standings, Utah could deliver a crushing blow to the Cowgirls in Salt Lake City.
Still, Jacie Hoyt’s team has had success against the best in the Big 12 this season. With almost all of those signature wins coming in Stillwater, OSU is desperate for a statement win on the road.
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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.