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Oklahoma State center Megan Byford contributed more for the Cowgirls than she has since the previous meeting with Texas A&M on Jan. 19 in College Station. The 6-foot-3 sophomore scored two points and grabbed three rebounds in 15 minutes Wednesday night.

Byford scored and grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds less than two minutes after checking into the game.

"She has a highlight film every time she plays us,” A&M coach Gary Blair said.

Byford scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds against A&M earlier this season.

"She played well against them last time and did fine tonight,” OSU coach Kurt Budke said. "She did what we asked her to do and is one of the few that played up to her abilities tonight.”

•Decoy works for A&M: Junior guard Takia Starks, Texas A&M's leading scorer (17.3 points per game), suffered an ankle injury early in the second half. She returned but didn't score in the second half. Blair said while her injury bothered her, she was beneficial.

"She was going at about 60 percent,” Blair said. "But that's the best decoy you could have. It opened it up for Gant and others to do some things. Give them (OSU) credit. They stopped her in the second half, but her ankle stopped her more than anything.”

•Riley's range: Blair asked OSU guard Andrea Riley in pregame warm-ups if she could hit another NBA-range 3-pointer similar to her game-winner at A&M earlier this season.

"She stepped back and hit nothing but net, and I said, ‘Oh my gosh,'” Blair said. "I told my players just to contest her, and if she happens to miss, get the rebounds. She has unlimited range.”

•Strenuous schedule: OSU has dropped three of its last four games after winning four in a row. Budke credited the grueling conference competition.

"It's called the Big 12,” Budke said. "You have to look back and be fortunate that you could win five road games. If you look at our last few games, there aren't too many teams in the country that are going to make it through that without a loss.”

•What could have been: Budke hinted that if he would have been at OSU earlier, he would have recruited Danielle Gant, a Putnam City West product who was The Oklahoman's Player of the Year.

"We wish she was home with us, we just got in here a little bit too late,” said Budke, who replaced Julie Goodenough two years ago. "If you guard her at the post, she will drive by you, and if you guard at the guard she will post you up. She is very impressive.”

•Up next: The Cowgirls host Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Saturday in their final home game. OSU beat Texas Tech earlier this season 58-56 on a pair of free throws from Shaunte Smith with two seconds remaining.

"We need to find a way to get our heads up and come out and give our fans a good showing and our seniors a win in our last home game,” Budke said.

By Ray Martin