Cowgirls continue amazing season
Hey, wasn’t this supposed to be a tough year for the Oklahoma State women’s basketball team?
The Cowgirls, picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big 12, have reached the highest ranking in program history. The Associated Press poll has them 12th in its newly released poll.
With the loss of a good senior class and the arrival of a bunch of youngsters, this was pegged to be a season of building for the future. It was a tough thing, no doubt, for Andrea Riley to hear. The senior star is in her last season, and after failing to make the NCAA Tournament last season, you know she wanted to take the team back in her last year as a Cowgirl.
Now, it seems like she’ll get to do just that.
(We’ll save talk of her one-game NCAA Tournament game suspension for another day.)
The Cowgirls have been nothing but impressive. Their victories are impressive, and their losses as few. The games that they have lost have been to quality opponents, and there’s hardly any shame in that, especially when they’re balanced by some stellar wins.
So, why has this season been so much better than everyone expected?
The easy answer is oftentimes the thing that teams struggle with most — chemistry.
It just wasn’t there last year. You could see it. You could sense it. The Cowgirls had more talent than their record indicated, but they just didn’t have the right mix of personalities and ideologies.
This season, they are clicking. I’m not sure I entirely understand why either. First, you’ve got this inexperienced group of players that are being depended on heavily. Second, you’ve got a senior leader in Riley who has been unpredictable emotionally at times during her career. She can be great one minute, encouraging and mature, and she can be off-kilter the next minute.
It seems as though Riley has grown, and it also seems that this team is just a good mix.
The answers for that improved chemistry might not be obvious, but the impact of it is. You can see it on the floor, you can see it on the scoreboard, and now, you can see it in the ever-rising rankings.
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Comments
Yes, great chemistry, great recruiting, and a lot of hard work is why the Cowgirls set a AP Top 25 school record today at No. 12.
Jan 18, Big 12 Women’s BBall Teams in AP Top 25
Season – Conference
07. Nebraska 16-0, 3-0 (School Record)
09. Texas A&M 14-2, 2-1
10. Baylor 14-3, 1-2
12. Oklahoma State 15-2, 3-0 (School Record)
13. Oklahoma 12-4, 2-1
20. Texas 12-5, 1-2
Neither OU or OSU men’s basketball teams are ranked in the AP Top 25
This Wednesday is another big night for Oklahoma Women’s Big 12 Basketball. OU plays conference winless Missouri and it can be watched live on ESPN 360, which if you’re a Cox Cable/Internet customer you now receive free. The big game is OSU at Texas in Austin. I’ll be keeping my eye on the OU game while listening/Gametracker the OSU Cowgirls’ game.
Wed Jan 20: 7:00pm No. 12 Oklahoma State at No. 20 Texas – KGFY-FM, 105.5
Wed Jan 20: 7:00pm No. 13 Oklahoma at Missouri – ESPN 360 simulcast via SSN
Thanks Jenni, great article. Still have a long way to go but there sure is a bunch of us older season tickets alumni that are very proud of the Cowgirls. The reason for our incredible Big 12 start is because of great recruiting that gave us scoring depth where Andrea can pass instead of trying to shoot all the time. It’s the only way we beat Kansas. Andrea had some unbelievable passes in the game. With 12 minutes to go, tied 52-52, she had an incredible flying through the air (as she drove to the basket) pass to Precious Robinson for 2 points. Then with one second left in the game, driving the basket, she passed to freshman Toni Young who made an unbelievable shot for the huge game winner. In the Saturday night K-State game, for the first 12 minutes, Andrea only posted 3 points. But our offensive depth and rebounding kept us in the game until Andrea started hitting. Tegan, Precious, Megan, and Toni all had an outstanding game. And let’s remember that Precious has been the high rebounder in the last 6 of 10 games and freshman Toni 2 of 10. Yes, great chemistry, great recruiting, and a lot of hard work is why the Cowgirls set a AP Top 25 school record today at No. 12.
Recent OSU women’s game:
Riley ,total shots 33 – made 9 – 27.3%
Rest of team, total shots 26 – made 14 – 53.8%
Qestion? Who needs to shoot more??
Thanks Jenni, great article. Still have a long way to go but there sure is a bunch of us older season tickets alumni that are very proud of the Cowgirls. The reason for our incredible Big 12 start is because of great recruiting that gave us scoring depth where Andrea can pass instead of trying to shoot all the time. It’s the only way we beat Kansas. Andrea had some unbelievable passes in the game. With 12 minutes to go, tied 52-52, she had an incredible flying through the air (as she drove to the basket) pass to Precious Robinson for 2 points. Then with one second left in the game, driving the basket, she passed to freshman Toni Young who made an unbelievable shot for the huge game winner. Regard Saturday night’s game against K-State see my posts here:
Cowgirls beat Kansas State to win 11th in row
http://www.newsok.com/andrea-riley-cowgirls-beat-kansas-state-to-win-11th-in-row/article/3432722
As I stated, for the first 12 minutes of the game Andrea only posted 3 points with 9 missed shots in one of her worst game starts this season. But our offensive depth and rebounding kept us in the game until Andrea started hitting. Tegan, Precious, Megan, and Toni all had an outstanding game. And let’s remember that Precious has been the high rebounder in the last 6 of 10 games and freshman Toni 2 of 10.