Where Cowgirls Stand After Pivotal Weekend of Big 12 Basketball
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Oklahoma State is poised to be among the top of the Big 12.
On Saturday, the No. 24 Cowgirls took care of business on their home floor, beating Colorado 82-65. The double-digit win was just business as usual for OSU inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, where it has had an incredible run throughout the season and into Big 12 play.
As the regular season is in its final stages, the Cowgirls haven’t left much up for debate. They have established themselves as one of the best teams in the Big 12 and the country, with wins against all of the conference’s premier teams. While OSU has had some missteps against teams lower in the standings, it has avoided letting those pile up and is yet to suffer consecutive losses.
Sitting at 11-4 entering this weekend, the Cowgirls were in a three-way tie with West Virginia and the Utah team it had just beaten earlier in the week. In a tie for fourth place, OSU’s goal of getting byes in the first two rounds of the Big 12 Tournament, which comes with a top-four finish, was well within reach.
The Cowgirls’ hopes of getting that went from being potentially complicated with tiebreakers to a straightforward objective. OSU took care of its business on Saturday against Colorado to move to 12-4.
Meanwhile, Baylor and Kansas State, who are ahead of OSU in the standings, also won on Saturday. That set up a big Sunday for the Cowgirls despite not playing.
West Virginia faced TCU on the road, and Utah had to play at Cincinnati. The Mountaineers fell flat against a great TCU team, but Utah handily won over Cincinnati.
That leaves the Cowgirls in a two-way tie with Utah for fourth place at 12-4. While OSU’s 1-1 mark against West Virginia could have made OSU’s finish somewhat complicated, it is out of the picture for now.
With an undefeated record against the four teams tied or above it in the standings, OSU simply has to win out to get a top-four finish. Those games will come against Cincinnati at home before heading to Kansas to play the Jayhawks in the regular season finale. If OSU can finish 2-0, it will get a couple of days off to begin the Big 12 Tournament.
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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.