Instant Recap: Oklahoma State Bounces Back with 81-58 Win over UCF

BOXSCORE

The Cowgirls bounced back in a big way.

Oklahoma State defeated UCF 81-58, extending the Cowgirl’ home record to 13-1 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Knights were without their two leading scorers Leah Harmon and Khyala Mgodu, who combine to average over 26 points per game. They could have used every bit of that scoring.

The Cowgirls didn’t spot them any of those points either. After shooting just 22% from 3 in the loss at Arizona State, the Cowgirls hit the white maple of Eddie Sutton Court on fire. OSU started 4-of-5 from 3 and never really looked back.

OSU ended the quarter on a 14-2 run, including scoring the final six points to go up 24-6 heading into the second quarter. They went 6-of-8 from deep with five different Cowgirls making a 3 in the first.

The Cowgirls couldn’t keep shooting on quite that clip, but they continued to take advantage of the shorthanded Knights. OSU went 2-for-7 from deep in the second but still built their lead to 27 heading into the half.

The Knights battled back in the third, outscoring the Cowgirls 22-17. They combined for just 20 points in the first half. But all that heavy lifting only cut OSU’s lead down to 22. Even before their injury issues, UCF was not a team designed to play from behind. The Knights came in ranking dead last in the league with only 77 made 3-pointers coming in and last in 3-point shooting (26%).

After that 6-of-8 3-point blitz in the first, the Cowgirls finish just 3-of-17 the rest of the way from deep to finish right at their average of 36% on the day. OSU shot 48% from the field and held UCF to 38% shooting and 16% from 3.

The Cowgirls’ shooters may have started hot, but they came into their scoring the honest way, creating opportunities with their defense. That started with their perimeter defense. Haleigh Timmer had four of OSU’s seven steals. Amari Whiting was credited with one steal but had countless plays in which she altered a pass or curtailed a drive. A lot of those lead to fastbreak points the other way. OSU held a 24-7 advantage in transition scoring and scored 23 points of 20 UCF turnovers.

Five Cowgirls scored in double figures, even if the shooters cooled a bit. Whiting led the way with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. She also grabbed four rebounds. Jadyn Wooten pitched in 14 points, 10 of those in the first half, and added eight assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Micah Gray and Achol Akot each added 12 points, and Stailee Heard scored 11 as well as a team-leading eight rebounds.

UCF was led by Jacorri Bracey and Mahogany Chandler-Roberts who each had 12 points.

With the win, the Cowgirls improve to 19-6 and 8-4 in Big 12 play with just six games remaining.

OSU is currently projected as an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls will get some chances to improve that resume with some potential Quad 1 wins with West Virginia and Texas Tech coming up down the stretch. As it sits now, OSU has four Quad 1 opponents and one Quad 2 still on its remaining schedule.

Next up, the Cowgirls head north to face Kansas State at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Manhattan, Kansas.