Sophomore guard Andrea Riley had 18 points in OSU’s 62-57 loss to Iowa State on Sunday. She was one of only four Cowgirls to score.
“Ironic” seems a fitting term for the Cowgirls’ loss to Iowa State on Sunday afternoon.
Last season, Oklahoma State went to Ames, Iowa, and earned a huge victory to jumpstart its season and ultimately propel the Cowgirls to an NCAA tournament appearance.
This time, Iowa State paid the Cowgirls back, winning 62-57 in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The victory keeps the Cyclones’ NCAA hopes alive.
“[Iowa State’s] a desperate team right now because they’re playing for their NCAA tournament lives,” coach Kurt Budke said.
“They played like they wanted it more, they played smarter basketball, just more efficient. When you’re talking about a one-possession game, you don’t have to look very far on the stat sheet to see why you lost.”
Junior Heather Ezell hit the go-ahead free throws for Iowa State (16-8, 5-6 Big 12) and sophomore Alison Lacey put the game out of the Cowgirls’ reach with three freebies in the last nine seconds.
Lacey led the Cyclones with 15 points. Ezell and Kelsey Bolte had 12 apiece.
Only four players scored for the Cowgirls (20-4, 8-3 Big 120, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Andrea Riley led Oklahoma State with 18 points and Shaunté Smith finished with 16. Maria Cordero had 13 points and Danielle Green added 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Shot for shot, blow for blow, Iowa State would not be stopped in the first half. Every time it looked like the Cowgirls could come back, the Cyclones had an answer.
Iowa State used a zone defense to slow the game down and to trap the Cowgirls on drives. The Cyclones kept the pace at a crawl, but their patience at the offensive end resulted in nine first-half treys.
The Cowgirls came out shooting cold and never found a rhythm in the first half while the Cyclones capitalized en route to a 34-23 halftime lead.
Oklahoma State intensified its defensive effort in the second half, forcing the Cyclones into bad shots and turnovers. Riley and Smith scored nine straight points during one stretch that cut Iowa State’s lead to four.
“We just put the pressure on,” Smith said.
“Defense wins games and for the whole second half, we played good defense and it got us some points on the board.”
The Cowgirls took a 54-52 lead after a Maria Cordero layup, but they let the Cyclones grab three offensive rebounds during the next two possessions, which resulted in Ezell’s free throws.
Iowa State outrebounded the Cowgirls 22-9 in the second half.
“As Coach (Budke) always tells us, champions concentrate for 40 minutes,” Riley said.
“This is a learning experience. We did come back, and we fought, but we have to learn how to finish. We just have to learn from our mistakes.”
Oklahoma State will not have long to prepare as Texas comes to town on Wednesday.
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