Her message was simple. Turn around. She and their girls were coming to Kansas City.
Steve Martin and his wife, long-time OSU men's season-ticket holders, never had seen an Oklahoma State women's game. But after the Jan. 12 OSU-Texas Tech men's game, they decided to stay for the Bedlam women's game that night. And became instant Cowgirl fans.
Lt. Gov. Jeri Askins is a long-time women's basketball follower. A devoted Sherri Coale fan, truth be told.
But there stood Askins last Saturday night in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, wearing an orange vest and an Oklahoma State visor and cheering on the Cowgirls in the Big 12 Tournament title game.
The bandwagon is filling up.
OSU's remarkable rise in women's hoops has created a groundswell of excitement, as the 13th-ranked Cowgirls embark upon the NCAA Tournament.
"We're getting on the bandwagon,” said Cindy Summers of Tulsa, who with her husband has attended six Big 12 Tournaments but hadn't ventured over to the women's venue until last week.
More than half the announced crowd of 4,420 wore orange at the OSU-Texas A&M championship game Saturday night. It's too soon to tell if the frenzy will carry over to Des Moines, Iowa, where the Cowgirls play East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the NCAA.
The NCAA allots only 100 tickets per school; OSU requested more and sold them all and is directing fans to call the Wells Fargo Arena ticket office in Des Moines.
OSU had hoped to be placed in the Oklahoma City Regional, and coach Kurt Budke predicted a Ford Center full of orange had that occurred. Instead, OSU was placed in the New Orleans Regional, and Budke hopes the carryover is for next season.
"I think that's the next step we take as a program, putting more bodies in seats, and late in the year we were getting 5,000, 6,000,” Budke said.
"There were people in the stands (in Kansas City) that maybe haven't seen us play much this year, but I think if we can get Gallagher with 5 or 6,000 in it each game, it will be a tough place to play. I love to look up there at all those orange shirts.”
Municipal Auditorium certainly rocked for the Cowgirls, who had sizable homecourt advantages against both Texas and Texas A&M.
OSU regent Andy Lester of Edmond made his Cowgirl debut in the Big 12 semifinals, then came back for the championship game.
"I'm a fan,” Lester said. "This is fun.”
Lester reeled off the things he found charming about the women's game. Use of the backboard. Set shots. Ball movement. The 30-second clock.
"It's just a different game,” Lester said. "Different pace. Lot of energy.”
Which explains the newfound attraction between the masses and the Cowgirls. The on-court charisma of Andrea Riley and Danielle Green charms fans of all ages.
"They have more joy when they play that most men's teams,” said Andy Olive of Stillwater, a long-time attendee of the Big 12 men's tournament but who in the Thursday semifinals saw just his second Cowgirl game. "I love the difference.”
Pat Darlington of Stillwater said she didn't start attending women's games regularly until this year, and this was the first time she had seen the Cowgirls in the Big 12 Tournament despite coming to the men's event for years.
She was drawn by "everything we heard about the girls, how upbeat they were, hard-working. We like Kurt Budke. He's turned the team around.”
OSU regent Calvin Anthony is not late to the bandwagon.
"I've been with 'em ever since (coach Dick) Halterman,” who coached at OSU from 1984-2002.
"One reason you've seen it building, a crowd, is you can tell the girls appreciate it ... they play so hard, it got contagious. It was such a fun time.
"After the games, they come up and hug you. I think all our teams could take a lesson in marketing from them. It really makes you feel they're glad you're there.”
That's why Hunziker turned around on the Kansas Turnpike. Daughters Mara, 11, and Grace, 8, have become hooked. They wanted to see the OSU-A&M title game.
The Hunziker girls were part of a group of eight from Stillwater's Westwood Elementary who call themselves the "Rowdy Loudys,” complete with matching T-shirts, who sit on the front row of the baseline for games at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"I like how they treat me when I get to see them,” Grace said. "Sometimes they give me a hug.”
The Cowgirls and Budke have converted a lot of fans.
The granddaughters of Steve Martin, for example, have been going to Coale's basketball camps at OU.
"We've been thoroughly impressed with her,” Martin admitted. But "now we're thinking about taking them up to Stillwater.”
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It is this moron from Lawton wishes he have gone to a real college. Lawton High univeristy will never compare to oklahoma state univ. This is just another gooner article that is trying to point the finger at 'bandwagon' cowboy fans, the Daily joke-lahoman is calling the kettle black. Cowboy fans are REAL fans.
I thought this article was about OSU? I am an OSU fan and a season ticket holder for Basketball and Football. This year I went to my first Cowgirl game. Cowboy fan since birth so am I a bandwagon fan? I never had a chance to watch them on TV before this year and that is where my interest to see them in person came from.
Go Cameron Aggies, go away osu! I hear there is a petition going around to have gallagher-Iba torn down and moved to Durant, much better basketball over there.
itmustsucktobeosu, ardmore - Mar 19, 2008 at 8:44 pm
danny-girl in your case as a gooner fan you come from a no name college. If you even went to college, which I highly doubt. Funny you make comments about bandwagon fans, why don't you root for your cameron university...I mean lawton High univeristy?
I hate the word "bandwagon". Not sure you can say the Cowgirls have bandwagon fans since the fans were never really there to begin with. To me, a bandwagon fan is there when good and not when bad. We've never had a point to determine whether they will stay or go. I think the fans are finally seeing what talent is there in women's basketball regardless of school allegiance. I stress the word talent because it's not a show boat style game. It's all about basic basketball fundamentals which gets lost in men's games. I have been a season ticket holder since 2000. I was there when Goodenough wasn't good enough. It was painful to watch the horrific first year that Coach Budke endured. However, he never hung his head and neither did the girls. My daughter and I will be there again next year and the years after because we are there supporting our team through thick and thin. I sure hope the other fans don't ride the bandwagon because a true fan supports your team regardless of their record. With the Cowboys out, we still have several Oklahoma colleges to support and cheer on through the tournaments.
Oklahoma men's physicality and defensive pressure will propel them into the Sweet 16. The women's team has lost its identity. Sherri Coale is not having one of her finer years.
this story kind of takes the pressure off of the so called OU bandwagoners, and clearly states what we Sooners have known all along, when the cowboys do well the people come out of the woodwork
itmustsucktobeosu, ardmore - Mar 19, 2008 at 8:44 am
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Lieutenant Governor Jeri Askins is among the many fans to have embraced the Cowgirls. by BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
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