Oklahoma State Cowgirls Continue to Shine, Improve to 4-0
The Cowgirls are off to another good start this season.
Oklahoma State women’s basketball is again 4-0 to begin Jackie Hoyt’s third season as head coach. After three blowout victories to begin the season, the Cowgirls survived a scare on Saturday.
With their fourth straight outing in Gallagher-Iba Arena to begin the year, OSU hosted Fairfield. The Stags entered Stillwater with a 1-1 record, already having an interesting season. After winning at Arkansas 81-67 in the season opener, Fairfield dropped a game at home to Richmond, scoring only 39 points.
Without knowing what team to expect in Gallagher-Iba Arena, the Cowgirls had to be prepared for a fight. Eventually, OSU won 64-62 to avoid its first loss, but it was far from an easy contest.
The Cowgirls trailed a couple of times in the opening minutes, but after taking the lead midway through the first quarter, they never lost it. Holding a lead as large as 16 in the third, OSU entered the final frame up nine.
Despite holding a 12-point lead in the fourth, OSU allowed Fairfield to chip away at the deficit, which it cut to two with a layup with 36 seconds left. After stopping OSU, the Stags had an opportunity to force overtime or win with five seconds left but failed to put a shot up in the closing seconds.
Saturday’s matchup was by far the toughest in the early season slate for the Cowgirls, winning their first three games by 104 total points. Still, getting an early season test and winning is a perfect situation for Hoyt’s squad.
The Cowgirls have seven more nonconference games, with two at the Daytona Beach Classic and the rest in Stillwater. While getting past opponents such as Arkansas and Richmond will be a tough task, the Cowgirls have an opportunity to carry some momentum into Big 12 play.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.