Cowgirl Hoops: Oklahoma State Bests New Orleans with Ollie Gordon in Attendance

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STILLWATER – – Gallagher-Iba Arena was filled with screaming elementary school students and a Heisman candidate Wednesday.

The Oklahoma State women’s basketball team bested New Orleans 74-66 for the Cowgirls’ Class at the Court game, where elementaries in the surrounding area bussed students in to watch. Ollie Gordon, perhaps the most famous person in the state right now, also made an appearance. 

He took pictures with the kids, led an Orange Power chant at midcourt and even got involved in the halftime singing of Baby Shark and Let It Go. Gordon has myriad things going on, but OSU women’s coach Jacie Hoyt said it says a lot about Gordon and OSU that Gordon spent some of his valuable free time coming to a women’s basketball game.

“Ollie, what I’ve gotten to know about him, he’s, I think, the best football player in the country, but he’s a better person,” Hoyt said. “He just has this humility and understanding of how to use his platform. I think the thing that makes Oklahoma State so special is that we are a family here. It’s not football over here; basketball over here — softball. We all are together in this. We all take a great amount of pride in making Oklahoma State the best we can be. 

“I didn’t know he was here. I’m not surprised because I think he’s a phenomenal human being. The support that he’s given women’s basketball and the relationship that we have is really cool. It’s really special. There’s a lot of guys that just think they’re above those types of relationships or support. That’s not him. I don’t think that’s our football team at all. I know we were all storming the field for them. It’s cool. It’s a really neat partnership that we all have together.”

As for the game, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for the Cowgirl squad that won 100-59 against SIUE on Monday. 

New Orleans had a four-point lead after the first quarter, and the teams were tied at halftime and at the end of the third.

After shooting just 24% from 3 on Monday, the Cowgirls again struggled from deep against New Orleans, shooting 27% on 15 attempts. The difference in Monday’s blowout and Wednesday’s struggle was the fact that OSU turned the ball over just four times Monday and 16 times against New Orleans.

The Cowgirls finally put the resilient Privateers away in the fourth, outscoring New Orleans 19-11 in the quarter.

Anna Gret Asi had her fingerprints all over that fourth quarter. She scored or assisted five of OSU’s final six made field goals. She finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. She had three assists and no turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“Anna Gret is just a winner,” Hoyt said. “She just finds ways for us. She’s selfless. She doesn’t care who scores. She just wants to win. It’s been so fun watching her grow over the course of the offseason. We saw flashes last year, but this year I’ve been very clear with her and our team all knows that the expectation is just that she’s our floor general, and I thought she was phenomenal down the stretch of getting the ball exactly where it needed to be.”

It was another big game for Stailee Heard, a freshman from Sapulpa. Heard scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter, also finishing with five rebounds. She was 7-for-8 from the field. She started her college career Monday night with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double.

After transferring back to her home state from Arkansas, former Christian Heritage standout Rylee Langerman played a good all-around game, and powered the Cowgirls through a slow start. Langerman scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She also brought down six rebounds, dished three assists, swiped two steals, made all five of her free-throw attempts and was a team-best plus-16 in plus-minus.

The 2-0 Cowgirls have a big game in Boulder on Sunday against No. 20 Colorado. The Big 12-bound Buffaloes beat No. 1 LSU 92-78 on Monday to start their season.