Riley's last-second free throw seals Cowgirls' victory

By Mike Baldwin

Published: March 25, 2008

On a night Riley was ice cold, Oklahoma State's All-American point guard swished a free throw with 0.7 left to lift the Cowgirls to a wild 73-72 overtime win over Florida State on Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

"I was a gym rat who used to be in the gym from morning 'till night,” Riley said after the Cowgirls advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

"No time left on the clock. A game-winning free throw. I always pictured myself in that situation. It happened tonight.”

Riley missed 21 shots. She was 8-of-25 from the field, 5-of-9 at the line and 0-of-5 on 3-pointers. She even missed the first of two free throws with 0.7 remaining but drained the game-winner.

"I've been waiting my whole life for it to be right there, that kind of moment,” Riley said. "I see it on TV. I just wanted that to be me. To see the smiles on everybody's faces, I didn't want to disappoint them.”

OSU coach Kurt Budke said it's the same play the Cowgirls have run many times at the end of games all season. The strategy is for Riley to dribble out most of the clock and create her own shot, whether it's a 3-pointer, a shot in the lane or a drive to the basket.

"We've won a lot of games like that with her this year,” Budke said. "She has a good feel for it. She likes to take the last shot of the game. That's her specialty. With everything she's done this year, we're going to live and die with whatever decision she makes.”

It appeared Riley was so tightly guarded she might have been attempting a pass to Taylor Hardeman in the corner.

"Trust me, she wasn't passing,” Budke said.

In the locker room, Riley joked she intentionally missed the first free throw just to add a little more drama.

"Once I missed the first one I knew I was going to make the second one,” Riley said. "I was more relaxed. I didn't want to let my team down. And I sure didn't want another overtime.”

Referees huddled for three minutes before announcing Riley would shoot two free throws.

"My heart was really beating because I didn't know if they were going to take back the call,” Hardeman said. "I was just hoping and praying it was a foul because you never know — sometimes they take things back.”

Neither team led by more than four points in the second half, but it was the Cowgirls who were on the ropes the final three minutes of regulation.

OSU tied it 65-65 on Danielle Green's driving layup with 13 seconds left. Florida State had a chance to win it, but Shante Williams missed an off-balanced 10-footer at the regulation buzzer.

"We never felt we were in control and never felt we were out of it,” Budke said. "We can put points on the board quick. We've done it all year long.”

The Cowgirls seemed to be in control in overtime, leading 70-65 with 1:38 remaining. The Seminoles used a four-point play, a free throw, offensive rebound and the first of two Mara Freshour 3-pointers to set the stage for Riley's last-second drama.

"Tonight, we did an unbelievable job of keeping our head when things looked bad,” Budke said. "Our focus was so good. We talked at halftime about staying positive, not getting down.”

The overtime was a microcosm of a tense game in which neither team could seize control.

"It was a great game,” said Florida State coach Sue Semrau. "There were 20 lead changes and 17 ties. That says a lot about the two teams. Somebody had come out ahead in the end.”

The Cowgirls, 27-7, have matched the most wins in school history and have reached the Sweet 16 for only the second time. They will play LSU, which has reached the Final Four the past four years, Saturday afternoon in New Orleans.

"My coaches believed we could do it,” Budke said. "I think we all knew we were going to get there. I'm not sure they knew we were going to get there this quick.”

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