Cowgirls rally late to defeat ninth ranked Horned Frogs

Oklahoma State defeated №9 TCU in Stillwater Wednesday, 60–59, to move to 16–3 (6–2 Big 12) on the season.

Sophomore guard Stailee Heard led the Cowgirls with 17 points on 6–10 FG. TCU never trailed between the 8:09 mark in the first quarter, and 1:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“I have to shoutout our marketing team, our student section, our band, and our fans, because that was the best environment that I’ve been apart of since I’ve been here… we don’t get this win without them,” OSU head coach Jacie Hoyt said.

Freshman guard Jadyn Wooten finished the game with 14 points, including ten in the fourth quarter. She also led the Cowgirls with four assists. “All season I feel like we’ve been telling her to look to score more, she’s a pass-first point guard and that’s great for us, but sometimes we need her to do things like she did tonight,” Heard said of Wooten’s performance.

“Credit Oklahoma State for putting together a resilient 40 minutes. I thought they did a tremendous job competing the whole game, and they put together a really good second half,” TCU head coach Mark Campbell said.

The Horned Frogs led by 15 at halftime and by 11 with 5:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. Senior center Sedona Prince led with 22 points and 13 rebounds. TCU leads the country in 3-point field goals made, and they shoot 36.8% from beyond the arc. Oklahoma State held them to just a 28% clip from deep.

TCU guard Taylor Bigby started the game hot scoring nine points (3–5 3FG) in the first quarter. Going into the second quarter with a 20–16 lead, the Horned Frogs dominated the glass in the quarter with 14 rebounds to Oklahoma State’s six, cruising to a 39–24 lead at halftime.

In the second half, TCU went cold from three shooting 1–9 and only 7–28 from the field.

“We were really stagnant… we had no rhythm, we had no flow, we’re a team that shares the ball,” Campbell said of the Horned Frogs’ second half offensive struggles.

Heard made a three-point shot to put the Cowgirls up 58–55 with 1:12 remaining in the game; it was their first lead since early in the first quarter (8:09). Despite losing their big lead, TCU had a chance to win at the end after Anna Gret Asi missed two free throws for Oklahoma State. However, Hailey Van Lith’s long jumper came up short at the buzzer, and the Cowgirls held on to win.

“You’re learning in the good you’re learning in the bad, and there’s a lot of great takeaways from this game for sure,” Hoyt said.

TCU falls to 19–2 (7–1 Big 12), and will take on №25 Baylor at home Sunday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. on ESPN2. Oklahoma State’s next contest is on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX at 2 p.m.