Cowgirl Hoops: Which Oklahoma State Players Could Surprise This Season

STILLWATER — The roster Jacie Hoyt has assembled isn’t short on star power, but having the type of season the Cowgirls want to have will require a team effort.

It’s been a blockbuster off season for Oklahoma State with the additions of Audi Crooks and Liv McGill to team with Stailee Heard, the most impactful player of the Hoyt Era to this point.

But the incoming transfers didn’t stop with those two, as Heard was the only player remaining for last season’s OSU squad that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

McGill and Crooks met with reporters earlier this week, where they pointed to two teammates climbing up from lower levels of college basketball as players who might surprise some this year.

“Talexa (Weeter) — Talexa,” McGill said. “She’s impressed me, and I can’t wait to get on the floor with her. She’s just aggressive. She’s not afraid. She knows her role. She knows her strengths. I love a teammate like that.”

A 6-foot guard from Goodland, Kansas, Weeter was the Division-II National Player of the Year in this past season at Fort Hays State. She averaged 27.5 points and 8.9 rebounds a game this past season while shooting 40% from 3. She dropped 46 points in her penultimate game of the season while bringing down a dozen rebounds.

In three seasons at Fort Hays State, Weeter scored 1,364 total points and brought down 491 total rebounds.

“I’m a big fan of Ellie (Brueggemann),” Crooks said. “I think Ellie’s a lot more versatile than she may get credit for. She’s got this nasty fadeaway, so hopefully you guys get to see that this year.”

A Lincoln Christian grad, Brueggemann transferred back to her home state after spending the past three seasons at Lindenwood. Brueggemann had a pre-existing relationships with Hoyt, who said she tried to recruit Brueggemann to UMKC. Hoyt said earlier this offseason that she still had photos in her messages from Brueggemann’s visit to UMKC way back when.

Brueggemann averaged double figures in all three of her seasons in the Ohio Valley Conference, including a career-high 14 points and 3.1 assists a game this past season. She also shot 44% from 3 during the 2025-26 season on 218 attempts. For reference, Haleigh Timmer was the Cowgirls’ most efficient 3-point shooter this past season, hitting 42% of her 170 attempts.

The type of floor spacing Brueggemann and Weeter provide will be key for Crooks and McGill this season, and it seems as if that star-studded duo is already well aware of the importance of that spacing.