Worst Kept Secret: Jadyn Wooten’s Growth Could Propel Cowgirls to Championship

STILLWATER — The majority of Big 12 coaches, perhaps every single one, who have visited Gallagher-Iba Arena this season singled out Jadyn Wooten when asked what makes the Cowgirls tough to defend.

Baylor coach Nicki Collen, no stranger to top talent, didn’t hold back, describing Wooten as “elite.”

“(Maybe) the best midrange shooter in college basketball,” Collen said.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the praise the sophomore earned from the conference. Wooten earned all-conference honorable mention honors following the regular season, which Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt took some offense to, considering she viewed Wooten as an easy lock for a bigger award.

“The Sixth Woman in the conference is sitting to my left right now,” Hoyt said, gesturing to Wooten. “There’s no doubt about that in my mind. … This is who has got us where we are, which is fourth in the conference.”

It’s true, Wooten is a big, perhaps even the, reason Oklahoma State secured the double bye, which keeps the Cowgirls off the court until the Big 12 quarterfinals on Friday.

“It’s like a dream come true,” Wooten said. “As a kid, you know, that’s always dreamed to play at this level, and then going to get to go back home and do it in front of, you know, all the people I love. … I never thought I would make it this far, but seeing that God has brought me this far. It’s a blessing to be able to go back home and do what I love.”

Wooten should have quite the crowd on Friday, considering she grew up playing ball less than 20 miles away. Of course, this isn’t her first time in the conference tournament. She played 53 minutes across two games last year.

She finished those games with nine assists, but only eight points.

But that was the old Wooten. The one who had not yet, as teammate Stailee Heard put it, “leveled up.”

“Probably not as confident,” Wooten said, recalling how she felt one year ago. “Not as strong, physically. … Just a baby freshman, but I definitely knew I had what it took if my team needed me. But this year, it’s more like we have this thing called you can count on me, and so I just know going down there that my team can count on me to show up in whatever we need.”

Wooten has certainly done that this season. She’s second on the team, averaging 12.4 points per game, but that production isn’t coming at the expense of her teammates. Wooten’s 5.2 assists per game rank sixth in the Big 12, and she leads the conference with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.

She finished last season sixth on the Cowgirls in points per game, averaging only 6.5 per game. That squad was almost solely powered by Heard’s 16.8 points per game. Fellow returner Micah Gray averaged 13.7, while former Cowgirl Anna Gret Asi was the only other double-digit scorer (11.8 points).

Despite returning both of its top two scorers, it was Oklahoma State’s depth that carried the Cowgirls through the season. Gray leads the way with 14.1 points per game, while Heard slots into third place with an average of 12.1 points per game.

Both first-year Cowgirls Achol Akot and Haleigh Timmer average 11.7, while fellow transfer Amari Whiting rounds out the top six, averaging 9.8. To put this another way, Oklahoma State’s top two scorers this season are combining for four points less per game than they did last year, but the next four players are all outscoring their 2024-25 counterparts for a combined total of 11.4 points more per game.

“I think that’s why we’re the team that no one wants to see, though,” Hoyt said. “I think that’s what makes us so lethal, is the fact that we have so many weapons.”

If the Cowgirls are going to win the Big 12 Tournament they need to avenge half of their six Big 12 losses starting with Kansas State (lost by 9), then likely TCU (lost by 8) and then likely either Baylor (loss by 9) or West Virginia (loss by 32).

Wooten led the Cowgirls with 16 against the Bears, in a game that saw OSU blow a huge third-quarter lead. She also scored a team-high 25 on the road at TCU.

She played only 14 minutes against Kansas State, well below her average 27, and she missed the West Virginia game entirely. Maybe all that praise Big 12 coaches heaped on her had some substance to it.

Not that the sophomore seemed to care too much about the individual accolades earlier this week. She just wants to get back on the court.

“It doesn’t matter how people see you in the beginning of the season,” Wooten said. “If you get to March, you get to make your mark. And so I think that’s my favorite part, is no matter how people see you get to come in March and make your stamp on basketball and on the season.”