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Wednesday night was a good win for the Cowgirls on the road against a good Cincy team as they turned a very tight game into a 64-48 win. It was definitely a much-needed bounce back from the loss in the previous game at home to Kansas 75-66 last Saturday.
Stailee Heard was incredible leading the way in scoring with 21 points, and she added 4 assists and 13 boards as well. She had another double/double, and the timing on some of her buckets and assists was clutch, because this game was tight.
The Cowgirls shot 43% from the field and that’s despite being just 27% from 3, and starting very slow from behind the arc as well. This club will keep shooting until they find the range, then, when they do find that range, they can spurt out in a short period of time and turn a close game into a double-digit lead very quickly.
One factor that was huge is that OSU outrebounded Cincy 49 to 30, so for a team that likes to play with 4 guards, play fast, and shoot from the outside if they can also rebound like that, they will be tough for anyone to beat.
OSU is now 13-2 overall on the season and 3-1 in Conference play with a home game against West Virginia Saturday at 2:00 up next
Heard posted another Double-Double scoring 21 with 13 boards, 4 assists, and 5 steals. Point blank, she took this game over and Cincy had no answer to either her scoring or how she set her teammates up.
Wednesday night was her 6th Double/Double of the season, 3rd time she’s eclipsed 20+ points, 2nd game in a row she’s had 20+, and 4th time in her last 7 games.
She’s shooting 50% from the floor overall and is 59 for 147 behind the arc, which is good for over 40%. Wow!
Heard also has 313 rebounds on the year (7 per) and 109 assists as well, so she’s not just about scoring, she controls the game in just about every way possible.
Makin the Sapulupans Proud!
Heckuva game for Alexia Smith who had her 4th double-digit scoring game of the year. In total, she had 12 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists.
Smith is in her 5th year of College basketball and has been at both Minnesota and Virginia, so her experience shines through in road games like Wednesday, because she’s “been there, done that”. And that “been there, done that” experience is something that can’t be coached or taught.
Smith is good at running in transition, good off the bounce going to the hole, and is a good finisher in space, and those are all skills that fit the style of this team like a glove.
The Cowgirls are gonna push the ball, score fast, and shoot. But, they also have the ability to dump the ball in the post and score as well with Tenin Magassa.
Magassa is 6’6, so she has great size, can score with either hand, has great footwork, and has a very soft touch around the rim.
Wednesday night was a season-high in minutes for her, and she was very efficient making 4 of her 9 field goal attempts. She also added 2 block shots, so when her number gets called, she delivers. That post presence could easily be the difference between relying too much on perimeter play, which can come and go due to the variability of shooting, vs. creating a balance that adds consistency to the explosive nature of this team.
When the Cowgirls go on one of their runs and start to gain momentum, Huard is right in the middle of that spotting up from behind the arc. Her shots pile on and take close games and stretch them out for this club.
Huard had 2 huge 3s Wednesday night that put a dagger right through the heart of Cincy, and, TBH, broke their will. If she gets her feet set, just run back to the other end, because the ball is going bottoms.
As a matter of fact, she’s shooting 47% from beyond the arc this year and has made ALL 17 of her free throws she has shot as well.
Micah Gray didn’t have one of her patented huge scoring nights, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a big impact on the win. She nailed a big 3-pointer and had a couple of assists and 3 boards.
Her presence alone averaging double digits per game, opens the floor for everyone else, which was a big part in the fact that 8 different Cowgirls scored. When the Cowgirls can go on the road and beat a good Cincy team with Gray not having one of her big scoring nights, that says a lot about the potential for this team.
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