STILLWATER — As March Madness draws near, complicated postseason scenarios abound.
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But for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls to earn their desired first-round bye at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City in March, the task is clear: defend the home court.
Home games against Texas A&M and Texas Tech and a road game at Baylor remain for the Cowgirls. If OSU wins two home games, it finishes in the top four in the conference for the first time, regardless of the outcome at Baylor. Lose a home game, and the Cowgirls are forced to win in Waco, where Baylor is undefeated. The first of those games tips off tonight against Texas A&M at 7 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"I think Texas A&M is the hottest team in the conference right now, and they are the defending champs,” OSU coach Kurt Budke said. "We will have to play a great game to beat them.”
The Cowgirls have as many conference losses on Eddie Sutton Court as they have on the road this season. They suffered an upset at the hands of Iowa State last week, and lost to Kansas State earlier this season.
Budke credits the difficulty of the Big 12, and said he expects eight teams from the conference to make the NCAA tournament.
"Only Baylor is undefeated at home,” He said. "That just shows how incredibly tough this conference is.”
Senior Danielle Green said the home losses will help the Cowgirls focus in their last two games at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"We know now that the crowd isn't going to win a game for us,” Green said. "The crowd is behind us, and we have taken that for granted sometimes.”
The Cowgirls' matchup with A&M is becoming one of the most dramatic women's college basketball has to offer.
Six points decided the last three meetings, and each featured game-winning shots made in the final 10 seconds. The Cowgirls escaped with a 61-58 win at A&M in January, thanks to an Andrea Riley 3-pointer from just inside half court with seven seconds remaining. The Aggies swept OSU last season, making game-winning shots with 0.3 seconds left in both meetings.
"This is the team I really love playing against,” Riley said. "I think it's becoming a rivalry. We both play really hard. You can see that the coaches don't like to lose to each other.”
A win at Texas last week put Texas A&M only one game behind the Cowgirls in the conference standings, giving tonight's game serious Big 12 tournament implications.
"I think this is the most important game of the season,” Riley said.
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Oklahoma State's Danielle Green, right, drives the lane guarded by Amanda Thompson during the Sooners' 81-71 win on Saturday. The Cowgirls know they need to defend their home court if they want a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament. by STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN
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