Jadyn Wooten, Cowgirls Bounce Back With Dominant Win Over Houston

STILLWATER — The year hasn’t been very long yet, but Oklahoma State spent pretty much all of it feeling sick over the way the team blew a 19-point third quarter lead to No. 22 Baylor.

“We took it really hard just because we really felt like we let one slip away,” OSU sophomore Jadyn Wooten said. “And we know what we’re capable of, and so it was really just about coming back together.”

Saturday’s 83-52 rout of Houston (6-8, 0-3 Big 12) was the opposite of Wednesday’s loss to Baylor in just about every way.

Micah Gray drained her first 3-pointer and the rest of the Cowgirls (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) seemed to follow suit knocking down 36% of their 22 3-pointers in the win after hitting only 19% against the Bears.

Oklahoma State’s first foul came near the midway point of the second quarter, and the Cowgirls finished with 11 total fouls, another stark contrast from the last outing when three players entered the final period with four fouls thanks to what Hoyt described as “bone-headed” decisions.

Oklahoma State also successfully ran its offense finishing with 23 assists thanks largely to the efforts of Wooten and Amari Whiting who almost evenly split 15 assists on Saturday. No Cowgirl had more than three on Wednesday as the team combined for only 10, which was only one better than the season low.

Gray and Wooten led the way scoring 21 points each while Whiting (14 points) and Achol Akot (11) also finished in double figures.

Wooten has now scored at least 12 points in seven of the last eight games while topping 20 three times in that span.

“We’re kind of getting to a point and I’ve always had this with my really elite players, that I’ve been blessed to coach, just this kind of understanding that we don’t even have to really say anything, and we just know what each other’s thinking and what needs to happen next,” Hoyt said. “She’s growing up right before everyone’s eyes. And it’s incredible. I think Jadyn is making a very strong case already for herself, for Sixth Woman of the Year.”

On Wednesday, the Baylor coach praised her as perhaps the nation’s best mid-range shooter, and on Saturday, Houston coach Matthew Mitchell praised her midrange shot as “a lost art” that is tough to stop.

The comments are nice, sometimes even awkward like when Wooten has to sit next to Hoyt while she praises her. But the sophomore was quick to say no amount of praise changes who she is.

“I get all of my confidence from God, Himself,” Wooten said. “My faith is probably the biggest thing for me. It is my driving force, it is pretty much who I am. Obviously yeah it is cool, especially as a little kid who dreamed of playing here, but I know I wouldn’t be in the position I am and have the gifts I do without God.”

As for the Cowgirls, dominating what might be the second-worst team in the conference isn’t going to alter the trajectory of Oklahoma State’s season. To Hoyt, Saturday wasn’t about a lopsided final score. It was about learning from Wednesday.

“So when I got here, the expectation was never to beat Baylor, not even close,” Hoyt said. “Honestly, the expectation was don’t get blown out by Baylor. And over the last few years, we have really changed that expectation and progressed into a great program, and one that expects to beat Baylor. We’ve proven that several times in the last few years, and kind of gone back and forth and I say that with the most respect to Baylor, because it’s, it’s Baylor, right. Like, as far as women’s basketball goes, they have been the standard, but we’re there now.”

Oklahoma State will get the chance to prove it soon enough. On Wednesday the Cowgirls will test themselves against a team with legitimate Final Four hopes when they travel to No. 8 TCU (14-0, 2-0 Big 12).

Not only are the Horned Frogs unbeaten, they rarely let anyone keep up with them.

TCU’s closest game came on the road at NC State where the team won by 10. The second-smallest margin of victory was a 16-point win over Richmond at a neutral site. Every other TCU win has come by at least 21 points.

In fact, dating back to last season, only two teams have beaten TCU since Oklahoma State did so at home on Jan. 22. Another win over the Horned Frogs could dramatically alter what March looks like for OSU.

“I think where our program is now in the standard is just that we want to compete for a Big 12 title,” Hoyt said. “We want to play in March. We want to, you know, that’s just the expectation for us now. So these games, we understand it, the importance of every game, but we also are smart enough to know, you know, the games that carry a lot of weight to meet the goals that we want to meet.”