OU’s Courtney Paris has traditionally made life miserable for the Cowgirls every time the teams have met on the basketball court.
This time, OSU point guard Andrea Riley turned the tables for a 82-63 victory over the Sooners (10-3, 1-1 Big 12).
Riley had a career-high 45 points, 37 of which came in the second half, for the Cowgirls (14-1, 2-0) before a sellout crowd at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Cowgirls coach Kurt Budke said that you do not have to be an expert to see the impact Riley had on the game.
“You obviously saw tonight that we have a very special player here at Oklahoma State,” Budke said. “Everyone played their roles tonight, but Andrea carried us to this victory.”
Riley shot only 2-for-10 in the first half, but hit 10-of-13 field goals in the second period. She also set Cowgirl records for both free throws made, 17, and free throws attempted, 21.
Oklahoma State dominated the game from the beginning, jumping out to a 9-0 lead. The Sooners failed to ever make it close as the Cowgirls led by 20 points for much of the second half.
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale threw guards Danielle Robinson and Jenna Plumley at Riley on defense but admitted she did not know where to go when that failed.
“Both of those options got removed real early,” Coale said. “We didn’t really have a [Plan C] and I didn’t really do a great job of adapting to that.”
Along with her 45 points, Riley racked up four rebounds, two assists, three steals and did not commit a turnover.
Coale continued to shower praise on the sophomore point guard throughout her post game comments.
“If she plays like she did tonight, she might be the best guard to ever play in the Big 12,” Coale said.
Although the spotlight was obviously on Riley the entire game, the rest of the Cowgirls executed the game plan to perfection.
OSU committed five turnovers while forcing the Sooners into 18 turnovers.
“I think if you look at these stats, that’s probably as close to a perfect game that I have ever seen in my 23 years of coaching,” Budke said.
Despite incredible performances from nearly every Cowgirl on the floor, they still knew who the go-to girl was for the night.
“Half of [OU’s] players were on her, and she still scored,” OSU center Maria Cordero said. “There’s no answer to that.”
Always humble even in her brightest moments, Riley said that the only thing on her mind during the game was coming out on top as a team.
“I was just really thinking about the win, really,” Riley said. “I wasn’t thinking about scoring or anything. I mean, I wanted to help my team.”
The Bedlam victory could be the signature win that moves the Oklahoma State program to the next level.
In any case, Budke and the Cowgirls know that this magical night will always retain its significance.
“It was a night that I will never forget as a coach, our players will never forget as players, and it was a night that our fans will never forget,” Budke said.
Loading ...
All Articles
I have been an OSU fan my whole life. I was at the game on Saturday when OSU defeated OU. Our girls played awesome and I was very proud of them. However, there were fans at this game who made me hang my head in shame. I was sitting next to my best friend, a die hard OU fan, expecting a fun and exciting game, thoroughly confident in the decency of my fellow OSU fans. Imagine my surprise when grown men, all decked out in orange, stood and began booing Jenna Plumley. Their boorish behavior took away from our win. Did we not just rally around and make T-shirts supporting Mike Gundy when he stood up for the “kids” who play for our school? When I was a kid, OSU played OU for a spot in the Orange Bowl. OU won and after the game, their fans proceeded to throw oranges at OSU fans causing an OSU band member to fall down the stairs. I have carried a dislike for OU fans since that time. I was so glad that OSU fans didn’t behave that way and until this game, I hadn’t noticed but a sprinkling of unsportsmanlike fans in the OSU stands. Saturday night’s game, however, had a large number of unsportsmanlike fans in the courtside 200’s sections. One 40-ish woman even felt it necessary to wave “bye bye” to the OU team while swinging her hips in a sort of “nanner nanner boo boo” taunt from grade school. Are these my fellow alumni? I hope not! I am hoping these are just bandwagon fans looking for a winning team to claim. If we hit a bump, maybe they’ll fall off, leaving only true respectable fans to ride to victory with the team.