Oklahoma State basketball: Cowgirls down to nine players heading into game with UT-Arlington

Coach Jim Littell certainly wasn't trying to be a poor sport or run up the score.

It's just that the No. 15 Cowgirls currently don't have enough players to completely empty their bench.

For OSU — a team that has bolted out to an 8-0 start, boasts the nation's top scoring offense and continues to improve on the defensive end — perhaps its biggest deficiency as it enters Saturday's nonconference contest at UT Arlington is its lack of overall depth.

Or maybe it's really not something to be all that alarmed about.

“I believe all the nine (healthy players) that are here can play and contribute,” Littell said. “It's not like we have six or seven that can play.

“Most teams, when they get in conference play, they narrow the bench to eight or nine, anyway. So I don't think we're in any dire situation.”

Injury-racked women's basketball rosters has emerged as a story this season in the state, where coach Sherri Coale's Oklahoma squad is 9-2 despite being down to eight healthy players.

The OSU Cowgirls were already set to enter the season with a smaller roster. Five players from last year's team transferred after its run to the WNIT championship, and OSU began practice with 11 Cowgirls.