Cowgirls got a huge win Saturday in Lubbock, holding on down the stretch to beat a good Texas Tech team 71-68. After beating TCU on Wednesday with such an emotionally charged comeback, regrouping and refocusing for a tough road test was not easy, so, going on the road and winning like the Cowgirls did today showed a TON of maturity.
The Cowgirls shot 50% in the 1st quarter, which is good, but was just a precursor of better shooting to come. OSU shot a blistering 62% in the 2nd, and 64% in the 3rd to build their lead to as many as 14 points to end the 3rd quarter with the score 59-45.
However, even though OSU ballooned the lead to 16 early in the fourth, that big lead was brief. The Lady Raiders eventually pulled within just 1 point of the Cowgirls, 64-63, with 2:22 left.
With plenty of time left on the scoreboard, and all the momentum, it looked like Tech was poised to flip the script on the Cowgirls, who had a big comeback win Wednesday. But, that’s when the maturity of the Cowgirls came to the forefront.
Alexia Smith buried a couple of free throws with 1:53 to extend the lead back to 3 where it teeter-tottered back and forth until the final buzzer.
OSU escaped and earned a tough victory on the road in Lubbock, 71-68.
The Cowgirls shot 48% from the floor overall for the game, 40% from 3-point range, but, for the 2nd game in a row only shot 10 from behind the arc.
Although Tech did have a good day shooting at 44%, the Cowgirls held them to just 8-28 (29%) from 3-point range. The low percentage is significant, but so is the fact that OSU forced them into that many long-range shots.
Stailee Heard and Micah Gray dominated this game on the offensive end with 34 & 17 respectively, and both scored in every which way. They also produced answers every time Tech started to gain momentum.
The only weak spot to today’s performance is that OSU turned the ball over 18 times and had just 8 assists, but when Heard, Gray, and everyone else can drive the ball to the bucket, those stats are neutralized.
For instance, the Cowgirls scored 36 points in the paint, but Egherevba and Magassa only had 4 points combined. That goes to show how many dribble drives to the bucket the Cowgirls converted combined with some timely putbacks.
OSU also dominated the glass and outrebounded Tech 33-21. 13 of those boards were offensive and led to 17 second-chance points, which was a huge factor.
With the win, OSU moves to 17-3 overall and 7-3 in League play.
The Action
Nothing else anyone can say about Stailee Heard other than she has turned into one of the best players in ALL of College basketball. She had an eye-popping and career-high 34 points today, 7 boards, 2 assists and 4 steals.
Going on the road teams need to be able to lean on their stars to pull through for them, and Heard has turned into that player, no question.
She scored 10 points in the 4th quarter, which was all but 2 of the points the Cowgirls scored in the final 10 minutes of the game. Alexia Smith sank 2 free throws with 1:53 left for the only other points scored by OSU in the 4th.
Wanted to give a shout-out to Tenin Magassa and Praise Egharevba for the work they’ve been doing. They only combined for 4 points today and didn’t have huge offensive nights on Wednesday, but the defense they’re playing in the paint is superb.
They held Sedona Prince to just 1 FG in the 4th Quarter Wednesday night, and that was on a tip-in with 6:42 to go. They denied her even the opportunity to get the ball in the last possession when TCU was down one with 8 seconds left and needed just any kind of bucket to win.
This OSU team can score, so the offensive end steals most of the thunder, but wanted to make sure the post players are given the credit they have deserved.
It was great to see Stacie Jones be a factor for the first time in several games. Jones made 2 very impressive offensive plays in the 1st half to help OSU build the lead that they held on to for dear life down the stretch.
Alexia Smith is the “Unsung” hero on this team. Of course, the 34 from Heard, and 17 from Gray are going to grab the headlines, and rightfully so, but Smith was a huge factor again today.
She scored 6 points but had 2 huge free throws in the 4th when Tech had pulled to within 2, then had several gigantic rebounds down the stretch to give the Cowgirls crucial 2nd chance opportunities.
What’s Next
The Cowgirls improved to 17-3 overall and 7-2 in Conference. OSU will next be in action Wednesday Night when they host Arizona State at 6:30 inside Gallagher Iba Arena. Arizona State is 8-12 on the season and just 1-6 in Conference play, so they have struggled.
But, as we saw in Houston, every team in this Conference is capable, so let’s pack the house and show the girls the appreciation they deserve.
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