Recap: Cowgirls Fall to Arizona State 74-69

BOXSCORE

The Cowgirls battled, but they couldn’t get over a poor shooting night against a tough defensive squad on the road.

Oklahoma State fell to Arizona State 74-69, splitting their two-game trip in the state of Arizona.

After an offensive-heavy blowout win in their win over Arizona in Tucson, the Cowgirls shot a season low from the field, making just 22-of-69 shots (32%) and just 22% of their 3-pointers, their third-lowest perimeter shooting night of the year.

The Sun Devils got hot in the second. After the Cowgirls and Sun Devils shot 32% and 34%, respectively in the first two quarters, ASU shot 58% overall to OSU’s 32% in the second half.

The poor numbers were in part because the Cowgirls missed their first eight 3-pointers and started 1-for-11 from deep. They finished just 6-for-27 from beyond the arc, but the fact that they kept it close throughout is a testament to how tough they are. It just wasn’t quite enough on Wednesday.

It was a one-possession game for the entire first half save for 19 seconds in the first quarter when Arizona State led by as much as four. The Sun Devils didn’t make it a two-possession game again until the 5:28 mark in the third when a 3 by ASU’s Gabby Elliott made it 44-38 in favor of the home team. Then ASU pushed the lead to 48-41 at the 2:56 mark in the third before leading by as much as 10 down the stretch of the quarter.

The Cowgirls pulled right back in it in the fourth, coming to within one point. Achol Akot was responsible for that score, two of her team-leaking 18 points on the night. She also has a game-leading nine rebounds.

Jadyn Wooten drained a step-back midrange jumper to pull within 65-63 with 2:41 left. She drove hard to the rim with 19 seconds left to get fouled, then knocked down both of her free throws to make it a one-possession game trailing 70-67.

Wooten scored eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, trying to will her team over the hill. Then it was Gabby Elliott’s be nails from the stripe. ASU’s season leading scorer was 6-for-7 on free throws including making both of her tries with 14 seconds left to give ASU the 72-67 lead. She finished with 17. ASU’s McKinna Brackens led the field with 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

With the loss, the Cowgirls fall to 18-6 and 7-4 in Big 12 play. They’ll look to get right at home when they host UCF at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.