STILLWATER – The season of being thankful is here, and the Cowgirls are thankful to be back in the win column.
Oklahoma State beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 98-45 on Monday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The win improved the Cowgirls to 6-1 this season. The team is still unbeaten at home.
“I’m so grateful to coach in a place where we have the fans behind us,” coach Jacie Hoyt said. “When I pulled up to the arena and saw people waiting at the doors, that just meant the world to me.”
Aggressive defense was the key to the Cowgirls’ success. The Cowgirls forced 34 turnovers, including 16 in the first half, and limited the Islanders to 14 made baskets.
“With our depth and speed we can be really effective with a press,” Hoyt said. “We feel pretty confident in that so I wanted to keep working on it more tonight and get those reps pressing.”
The Cowgirls turned those 16 first half turnovers into 22 points and finished with 46 points off turnovers.
“We were soft in the loss to St. John’s like we were a bunch of poodles,” Hoyt said. “We have to be pitbulls. The team response was good. I’m tired of having to talk about poodles.”
The Islanders did not score after halftime until the 2:58 mark of the third quarter on a pair of free throws.
“We wanted to keep them to zero,” guard Lena Girardi said. “We’re never taking our foot off the gas. We’re trying to run the ball down people’s throats for 40 minutes.”
Eight players scored for the Cowgirls. Guard Haleigh Timmer led the team with 25 points.
“Haleigh is an elite shooter,” Hoyt said. “It says a lot about the team’s belief in her that we all want her to shoot it.”
Oklahoma State also had success sharing the ball, finishing with 17 assists on 32 made baskets.
“Coach has really taught us just how to share the ball and share the wealth,” Girardi said. “We’re really just focused on playing our best and moving the ball to get the best shots.”
The offense started slowly, falling behind 7-3 before closing the first quarter on a 17-0 run.
“I think we just had to get our bearings back,” Hoyt said. “I think we were still playing a little bit fearful and playing afraid to make mistakes instead of playing as the aggressor so I was happy to see us shake out of that.”
The game was crucial for the Cowgirls’ confidence before the Cayman Islands Classic later this week.
“Tonight was a great first step and we did what we needed to do,” Hoyt said. “We have a tough road ahead of us so I’m just looking forward to continuing in the next couple days of practice to figure out how we can get better.”