Cowgirls Basketball Hungry for Italian Food and for A Big 12 Quarterfinal Foe To Beat
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State Cowgirls left on Wednesday afternoon and that was a day later than the original reservations had been made. The Big 12 Conference coaches had the Cowgirls pegged in the preseason to be playing on day one in Kansas City at the Big 12 Tournament. Instead on day one while games were going in the T-Mobile Center the Cowgirls were traveling by team bus up I-35 to KC. The Italian cuisine usually experienced on Tuesday evening was being enjoyed as Texas Tech and Kansas, the two teams in their bracket were warming up for an 8 p.m. tipoff. Texas Tech won 57-53 in a game similar to the Cowgirls win over Kansas in Lawrence on Sunday 57-51.
“We’re in a really cool spot as a team right now because we far exceeded any expectations anyone had for us going into the year,” Hoyt said. “”We can fell comfortable with all we did to get into the tournament, made all kinds of history, so we’re feeling really good about that, but we are still incredibly hungry.”
They need to be, maybe some barbecue in KC on Thursday night. Keep working hard and keep preparing for Friday night. The Cowgirls practiced at Coach Hoyt’s old stomping grounds at Kansas City, formerly known as UMKC, on Thursday and will sit back and see the final step to Oklahoma State’s quarterfinal opponent as they will be the last team in the event to take the floor at approximately 8 p.m. on Friday (March 7).
“It is really unique and I’ve never been in this position as a coach,” Hoyt admitted about the double bye. “The great thing for us is you really do have to take it one game at a time and never get really far ahead. We just played Utah, we just played Kansas. Texas Tech was the game that was a fair amount of time ago. That would be a different kind of prep, but as faras the teams we could see in that first round. It is not very long ago that we played them and not much changes from a scout stand point.”
Utah plays Texas Tech. I think it will be Utah, but it is March Madness. The Cowgirls battled Utah in Salt Lake City to a 68-64 win in the Huntsman Center. In their one game at Texas Tech, they beat the Lady Raiders 71-68.
This team needs to focus on what is important, not postseason accolades, where they will be seeded for the NCAA, even what’s for dinner. This is a business trip. There is still time to influence the NCAA selection committee. There is still time to stick it to thefolks that don’t give Oklahoma State credit for being a bad ass women’s basketball team.
“We’re not liked. People underestimate us,” Stailee Heard said. The first-team All Big 12 guard averaging 16-points, 7.9 rebounds, and both two assists and two steals a game. Heard is a tough player that doesn’t care about playing pretty, but more about playing tough.
“I feel like we proved our point,” she added. “That speaks to our depth, how we’re for each other, and our sisterhood. We play together and we just want to win.”
“Having been in a position like that, as a leader, two years ago when we went to the tournament both of the post season tournaments (Big 12 and NCAA),” Anna Gret Asi said. “I was in a different position. This year feels much different. I’m just very happy.”
Happy, but not satisfied. Losing hurts even more in March than any other time. Being short changed hurts too.
“I kind of feel that they’re not paying attention or we’re not getting the respect that we should,” Hoyt mentioned. “I’m not sure what more that we can do. We’re 26 in the net, we have five quad one wins, and of the teams at the top of our conference we have beat all of them.”
Okay, so the Cowgirls still have a chip on their shoulder. They are not satisfied at 24-5 and being mentioned as a seed betweek six and eight for the NCAA Tournament. They are hungry, whether we’re talking spaghetti or lasagne, a Big 12 Championship, or moving up another line on the NCAA bracket. Now it just about to begin.