Oklahoma State and East Tennessee could feature one of the highest scoring first-round games in the women's NCAA Tournament Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Both teams are ranked among the nation's 15 highest scoring offenses. The Cowgirls average 76.1 points a game, the Bucs 75.2.
"We're both high energy teams that like to run the floor and try to get easy baskets in transition,” said ETSU coach Karen Kemp. "After every made basket we usually jump into our press. But I don't know if we can do that against this team.”
Making their first women's NCAA Tournament appearance, the Bucs' strength is their full-court pressure defense. Kemp said that might not be an effective game plan against the No. 13 Cowgirls, led by All-American point guard Andrea Riley.
"In our league, our pressure defense was very productive except for one team,” Kemp said. "We had to pull out of our press against Jacksonville because of their quickness. We'll pick our spots. But against Oklahoma State I don't see us pressing as much.”
The Cowgirls have scored more than 80 points 13 times, including a season high 107 points against Central Arkansas. The Bucs have scored more than 80 points 11 times, including a season high 102 points against Belmont.
"They get after you,” said OSU coach Kurt Budke. "They're athletic and like to run the floor. They score well. But it's nothing we haven't seen before. The Big 12 prepares you for any style. We're coming off a game where A&M pressured us for 40 minutes.”
Since they don't figure to get as many transition baskets, Kemp said a key factor is how ETSU's half-court offense fares against OSU's zone.
"We haven't seen a lot of matchup zone and they run a lot of that,” Kemp said. "We'll have to be disciplined with a lot of ball movement to get some good looks. When we get an open shot we've got to knock them down.”
After watching tape of all three OSU games in the Big 12 Tournament, Kemp said it's easy to see why Riley is the nation's fifth leading scorer, averaging 22.9 points a game.
"She's an unbelievable talent, super quick,” Kemp said. "You can't stop great players. And Riley is definitely a great player. What we have to do is to try and contain her and not allow somebody else to have a huge game.”
One reason the Cowgirls tied for third in the conference and reached the tournament finals is other players have complemented Riley. Over the past two months, OSU has had at least three players in double figures 11 times.
"We have to make sure we have three or four people in double figures and it doesn't turn into the Andrea Riley show,” Budke said. "It seems like every time we out rebound somebody we win. It comes down to the basics. We feel we can adjust to anybody we play.”
East Tennessee State, 21-11, enters the tournament on a hot streak, having won eight consecutive games and 15 of its last 16.
The Cowgirls, 25-7, will go a week between games. That pales to a 14-day layoff for the Bucs, who won the Atlantic Sun tournament on March 8.
"Last year when we were in the WNIT we didn't have a chance to regroup,” Kemp said. "I'm hoping this layoff gave us a chance to get our legs back under us and work on areas of weakness for us. I'm hoping (the layoff) will help us.
"It will be a huge challenge. They're a very good basketball team. They're very, very talented. You don't get a No. 3 seed being a shabby team. We definitely have a whole lot of respect for them.”
