But OSU (11-8, 3-5 Big 12) battled back and ended up defeating the 20th ranked Baylor Bears 69-66 in overtime.
Kara Faulk led the way for the Cowgirls with 24 points and Shelby Hutchens added 18 of her own. Jessica Bates finished with 11 while Chantoya Hawkins also finished in double digits with ten.
Cowgirl coach Dick Halterman said it’s been a long time since OSU has beaten a ranked team, and did it with their best defensive effort of the season.
“It was just a great effort by a lot of kids,” Halterman said. “We just made a ton of plays when we had to. We needed something good to happen, and something good did happen for us.”
A late offensive run by Faulk and Hutchens got the Cowgirls back in the game. But with about 40 seconds to go, the Bears (15-4, 4-4) were up by two and had possession. It looked like every thing was in BU’s favor. The Cowgirls needed a swing in momentum.
Suddenly, Hutchens stole the ball and passed it down court to Hawkins, who made a layup to tie the game at 55 and send the game into overtime.
“We were just running on straight adrenaline,” Hawkins said. “We said we were going to go out there and play our hardest, play like it was our last game and just come out with the win.”
Overtime came down to the last seconds as well. The Cowgirls went up 68-63, but Sheila Lambert sank a three for the Bears with nine seconds left on the clock to bring the game within two.
Baylor then got the ball back with 7.6 seconds left after a Faulk free throw made the score 69-66, but they had their final shot blocked by Hutchens.
“Take absolutely nothing away from this (Cowgirl) basketball team,” said Baylor head coach Kim Mukey-Robertson. “Credit their defense, credit their aggressiveness. They fought and they clawed and they got a win tonight.”
The win for the Cowgirls comes only six days after the tragic plane crash which resulted in the loss of ten lives.
“It was a lot of emotion out there, running down the court,” Hawkins said. “We decided to dedicate this game to the ten people.”
Faulk said playing basketball after the crash was tough, and she wasn’t sure how ready the team would be.
“I think we came out and did a good job of focusing on what we needed to do,” she said.
When the Cowgirls started to make the run late in regulation, Faulk said her teammates on the bench were supporting the team by showing a special hand signal to honor those who died.
“Every time there was a big play everyone had their 10s up,” she said. “We were remembering those guys.”
Next up for the Cowgirls is a road game in Manhattan, Kansas, against the Kansas State Wildcats Saturday at 3 p.m.
The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net Southwest.
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