Lieutenant Governor Jeri Askins is among the many fans to have embraced the Cowgirls. by BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Interested in following your team in the NCAA Tournament? Here are some travel details:
OSU women at Des Moines
•Driving distance: 510 miles from Stillwater
•Airline ticket: $1,000.
•Hotel cost: $99
•Game tickets: $16 adults, $11 students (1-866-553-2457)
OU women at West Lafayette, Ind.
•Driving distance: 792 miles from Norman
•Airline ticket: $400
•Hotel cost: $85 per night (limited availability)
•Game tickets: $18 adults, $11 students (800-497-7678)
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 t
