STILLWATER – Oklahoma State Cowgirls head coach Jacie Hoyt is in the midst of rebuilding her team after losing eight players, including Achol Akot and Jadyn Wooten, in the transfer portal. Two other players have exhausted their eligibility. Hoyt and much of her staff are in Phoenis, Ariz. this weekend or at least for part of it for the NCAA Women’s Final Four. There are two Cowgirls, the two that wrapped up their eligibility that will be playing basketball on Final Four weekend in Micah Gray and hot shot Haleigh Timmer.
Timmer was selected and is competing in the Celsius Women's 3-Point Championship as part of the 37th annual State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday, April 3. That event, part of the festivities at the NCAA Men’s Final Four will be televised nationally at 12:30 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, April 5 on ESPN.
Timmer started all 34 of OSU's games this past season, averaging 11.5 points per outing. The senior from Rapid City, South Dakota connected on 71 of her 170 (41.8 percent) attempts from beyond the arc. Her percentage ranks 23rd nationally and she ranks 10th among Big 12 players with her 2.1 made treys per game.
Men and women compet separately and then winners in each will compete in the Skechers Battle of the Champions.
Micah Gray will be among the 20 senior standouts in action this weekend at the Lilly Women's College All-Star Game. The game will take place on Saturday at Grand Canyon University's Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix and tips off at noon (CT). It will be televised as part of the Final Four weekend festivities on ESPN2.
Gray, from Oklahoma City, helped the Cowgirls to a 24-10 mark and the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they lost to a top seed in UCLA 87-68 in a game that was even for the final three quarters. Gray averaged a team-best 13.6 points per game and broke the school's single-season made 3-pointers mark for the second year in a row. Gray connected on 93 treys on the year, leading the Big 12 with her 2.74 made 3-pointers per game. Additionally, she ranked third among league players in 3-point field-goal percentage (.348).
Hoyt and her staff will be there for the semifinals in the Women’s Final Four on Friday (April 3) as UCLA will battle Texas and UConn will play South Carolina, all top seeds made it to Phoenix.
Hoyt and OSU picked up a portal pledge from Division II leading scorer and Player of the Year in Talexa Weeter of Fort Hays State. A 6-0 guard, Weeter led NCAA Division II in scoring at 27.5 points per outing. Additionally, she broke the MIAA's scoring record with 852 points, which is also the 13th-best tally in a season in Division II history.
There is a lot more work to do for Hoyt and the staff and the transfer portal opens officially on Monday (April 6).
