WACO, Texas —A regular season of many firsts for the Oklahoma State women's basketball ended while handing Baylor its first and only home loss of the season.
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Sophomore Andrea Riley scored 27 points as the No. 19 Cowgirls surprised the No. 8 Lady Bears 72-68 Thursday night, helping OSU pick up a school-record 11th Big 12 win.
"I'm very excited about my team tonight and how they played in a very hostile environment,” OSU coach Kurt Budke said. "I thought our kids came in and did what we had to do. We're not the prettiest club in the world, but we've got a bunch of competitors and a bunch of people that fight, and I just couldn't be more proud of where we're at now.”
With the win, OSU earned the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and a much-needed bye in the first round. The Cowgirls will play the winner of the Nebraska-Kansas game at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Kansas City.
"We want to be playing our best basketball as we head into this time of year, and I felt like we reached it there tonight,” Budke said. "The girls were very aware of what this game meant to us. We knew the seeding and we knew we wanted a bye and we knew we wanted a chance at (the NCAA regional in) Oklahoma City.”
OSU led for the majority of the game, giving up the lead for the first time with 5:15 to go in the second half. But the Cowgirls countered the Baylor comeback with a 3-pointer from senior Maria Cordero to take the lead back for good.
"It's players making plays. I hope when my posts are seniors they'll make those plays,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "As a coach sometimes you feel helpless, and I felt so helpless sometimes tonight to help them move and hit that one last shot or get that one last rebound, get that one loose ball and we didn't get them, Oklahoma State got them.”
Cordero, who grabbed a career high 14 rebounds in the earlier game this season against Baylor, finished with 9 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field.
"We kid (Cordero) all the time about buying her green contact lenses because her best games have always been against Baylor for some reason,” Budke said. "She came through big time tonight. This game was as physical as any game I've ever been involved in and I've coached a lot of games through the years. "
Baylor senior Angela Tisdale led her team with 18 points.
Steals — OSU 9 (Cordero, Riley, Green 2), BU 1 (Allison). Turnovers — OSU 12 (Riley, Green 3), BU 12 (Morrow 5). Blocks — OSU 4 (Cordero 3), BU 6 (Allison 3). Technical Foul: OSU 1 (Hardeman). A — 8,633.
10
Great job Coach Budke.