Cowgirl Hoops: Four Things to Know Before OSU Hosts Tulsa

The Cowgirls dropped a tough one in OKC on Saturday, but they won’t have long to sulk. After a quick turnaround, they’re back in GIA to host Tulsa before Big 12 play commences this weekend.

We’ll get into the matchup between the two teams, but first here are four things to know before tipoff.

Reality Check or Aberration?

While the Sooners represented a higher level of competition than OSU faced throughout the rest of its nonconference slate, I’m going to say it was the latter.

OSU head coach Jacie Hoyt said after the game that Oklahoma is just “really good” and a potential Final Four team, and that the trip to OKC gave the Cowgirls something to measure themselves against.

The Cowgirls came into Saturday’s Bedlam matchup as one of the hottest offensive teams in the country. After scoring just 70, against a very tough defense in OU by the way, the Cowgirls still rank second in the nation at 94.02 points per game. OSU turned in a season-low shooting performance, shooting 37.8% from the field and 9-for-32 from 3. The Cowgirls will try to shake that down performance off, but to do so they’ll need to focus on a couple of things.

Need to Get Back to Sharing

OSU fell behind in the third and was playing behind from then on. They strayed from their gameplan, and they stopped sharing the ball.

The Cowgirls came into Saturday fifth nationally, averaging 21.5 assists per game. They only managed nine assists against the Sooners and dropped to 10th, now at 20.5. There were four in the first quarter, but then just two in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth.

Jadyn Wooten continues to be a force off the bench and the Cowgirls best playmaker. She had a team-high four assists in 28 minutes off the bench and was the highest in points produced and second on the team in offensive rating. Wooten currently ranks 10th nationally with 70 assists. It’s not the only thing — and there is a little give-and-take with defense and turnovers but when she was on the floor, the Cowgirls’ offense just seems to run more smoothly.

Turnovers Killed ‘Em

It’s hard to share the ball with your teammates when you share it with the opposition.

OSU committed 22 turnovers which led to 27 Oklahoma points, according to the game’s box score. There is some discrepancy with one stats outlet listing their TOs at 18 for Saturday. Either way, that’s too many for Hoyt.

“We turned the ball over way too much,” said Hoyt during her postgame presser. “You’re never going to beat a team that good turning the ball over the way that we did. When they had that 30-point quarter, it was really just us straight-up passing them the ball. So that was very uncharacteristic of us and something that really hurt.”

To that point, 18 of those third-quarter points by OU came off of 11 OSU giveaways.

A Reset Before Big 12 Play

The Golden Hurricane roll into Stillwater having lost three of their last four. Strangely enough, their one win since Thanksgiving came against a common opponent. Tulsa smacked Mississippi Valley State 101-53 on Dec. 4. OSU stomped the Delta Devils 133-46 two days later. It was a rough trip to Oklahoma for the Delta Devils.

Overall, this should be a chance for the Cowgirls to reset and quickly shake the losing feel off before they turn their sights on a tough Big 12 slate. Conference play starts Sunday when the Cowgirls head to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats.

Viewing Info

Time: 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena
Watch: ESPN+

Team Stats

Last Game Starters