Senior guard Danielle Green has helped lead the team to its second Sweet 16 appearance in program history. The Cowgirls face LSU on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in New Orleans.
Cowgirls face No. 2 seed LSU in New Orleans
The Oklahoma State Cowgirls will take on the Louisiana State Lady Tigers in a Sweet Sixteen matchup Saturday afternoon in New Orleans.
The 1:30 p.m. game will air on ESPN.
It is the first Sweet 16 since 1991 and the second in program history for the No. 3 seed Cowgirls, while the No. 2 seed Lady Tigers have played in four consecutive Final Fours, giving them a decided advantage in experience.
The Lady Tigers sport the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 6-foot-5 center Sylvia Fowles and SEC Coach of the Year in Van Chancellor.
Despite the odds against his team, Cowgirl coach Kurt Budke said his players are confident.
“We only have to beat them one time,” Budke said. “This isn’t a best-of-seven series, it is just one game. Our girls feel like we are playing our best basketball of the year, and we feel like we can go down there and get that done.”
Oklahoma State (27-7) advanced with victories over East Tennessee State and Florida State.
LSU (29-5) beat Jackson State and Marist.
“It is going to be a hostile environment, especially being in Louisiana,” sophomore Andrea Riley said. “There are a lot of people out there that really cheer for that team. It is going to be really loud, but at the same time, there was a sold-out arena at Texas A&M and at Baylor, and we handled ourselves very well.”
“We just need to worry about ourselves and not worry about the fans.”
Although Fowles’ size gives her an advantage over any Cowgirl one-on-one, Oklahoma State has successfully used a zone defense to stifle several top notch centers in the Big 12.
The Cowgirls’ zone limited Oklahoma’s Paris twins to just 21 combined points in the first meeting between the teams.
Colorado’s Jackie McFarland is another high profile center the Cowgirls had to defend this season.
“You don’t have to have a big name to go out there and play hard and give your best effort and actually come out on top,” Riley said. “We have people that no one knows about like Danielle Green and Shaunté Smith, and that’s why it’s going to be an exciting game.”
Win or lose, the fact that Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team is playing in the Sweet 16 two years after going 0-16 in conference play is remarkable.
“It is an amazing difference to be here now compared to where we were two years ago,” Smith said. “It is a great feeling to be here with Taylor Hardeman (the other remaining player from the 0-16 season) and the coaches that were here back then.”
“To be here this fast really is amazing, but I’m just taking it one day at a time.”
Loading ...
All Articles