STILLWATER- Bedlam basketball is back, and the Cowgirls will face a tough test.
Oklahoma State faces Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon at three inside Paycom Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Oklahoma State is 10-1 this season and has seen record-setting performances multiple times. The team’s most recent victory over Mississippi Valley State marked the fifth time this season that the Cowgirls eclipsed 100 points, and the ninth time such a milestone has been reached under Jacie Hoyt. Both are school records.
The team facing Hoyt’s Cowgirls on Saturday will prove to be the biggest test yet. Oklahoma comes into the game ranked no. 8 to the Cowgirls no. 23. Oklahoma also boasts a 10-1 record, with the only loss coming to UCLA early in the season.
Both teams average more than 90 points per game and have multiple players who can score the ball.
Oklahoma has used the same starting lineup all 11 games and are led by freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez. Chavez is averaging over 19 points per game and shoots 35 percent from beyond the arc.
Chavez was a consensus five-star prospect in high school and one of the top three prospects nationally. Her impact for the Sooners has been immediate and the Sooners will look for her to be the counter punch to Cowgirl shooters Lena Girardi and Haleigh Timmer.
Inside Oklahoma relies on senior center Raegan Beers, who scores the second-most points for the Sooners.
The teams on paper are evenly matched on both sides of the ball, with the Cowgirls allowing 57 points per game defensively to the Sooners’ 61.
Coming into the season for the Cowgirls, all eyes were on Stailee Heard following a dominant season and being named to several preseason awards lists.
Heard has struggled to find consistent footing through the early part of the year but finished the game against MVSU with 26 points and appears to finally be comfortable this season.
The Cowgirls have seven players who average double digits scoring the ball to Oklahoma’s five. This is largely because of the Cowgirls’ willingness to share the ball and compile assists.
The Cowgirls have recorded an assist on 62 percent of made baskets this season, led by Jadyn Wooten and Amari Whiting, who each have more than 40.
Hoyt has praised her team’s depth and winning attitude all season, two things which will need to be on display for the Cowgirls to head back to Stillwater with a bedlam victory.
