Cowgirls Break NCAA Record After Coach Hoyt’s Timeout Green Light

“I took a timeout to tell them to stop taking layups and just start shooting 3s,” Hoyt said. “And they were like ‘Really!? Coach you want us to?’ … I am always hounding them on if you have a wide open 3 and a wide open layup, you need to take the layup. No matter how many 3s you just made. So they were kind of confused at why I was telling them, and then they got excited that I was giving them the green light to shoot, so it was kind of a funny moment.”

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The reason Hoyt broke all of her normal rules? The Cowgirls found themselves a mere two 3-pointers short of an NCAA record.

Despite not having the ball at the time of the stoppage, within only 14 seconds of that timeout, OSU drained back-to-back 3-pointers to set the Division I record for 3-point shots made through five games of the season with 72. Micah Gray drained the first one to tie the record before freshman Lena Girardi sealed it.

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Hoyt was unaware of the record when Tuesday’s game began. Then Oklahoma State drained 6-of-18 shots behind the arc to put the Cowgirls halfway to the total they needed, prompting the team’s sports information director, Ryan Cameron, to let Hoyt know about the record.

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“It is one of those things you don’t want to get too caught up in it because then I think your team can start pressing,” Hoyt said. “Even for me as a coach, I don’t want to force the issue. I just want our kids to play free.”

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Through five games, the Cowgirls shot 41% behind the arc. OSU finished Tuesday’s 105-55 win over Prairie View A&M 13-of-38 behind the arc overall and went 2-of-3 after the players found out about the record.

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“Records are important because we work our tails off and we all came here to do something special,” Hoyt said. “And so to have your name written in the record books of women’s basketball or Oklahoma State women’s basketball, that means something.

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“We work way too hard not to care. And we’re not seeking those out, like that is not the goal at the beginning, but when you know that it is in reach, I fully expect our kids to try and take it.”