The Oklahoma State University Cowgirls had to de-ice their plane before it took off from Stillwater, Okla. on Tuesday night, but the defrosted flight to College Station was worth the trip. On Wednesday night, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team was dominated by the OSU offense to the tune of a 48-68 stomping in front of a sparse crowd at the usually Aggie-friendly Reed Arena.
The Aggies were hoping to beat OSU for the first time at home since the 1997 campaign, but history repeated itself as the Cowgirls neutralized the Aggie defense with inspired play. OSU Head Coach Julie Goodenough, in her first season at the helm, was impressed by her squad’s late season offensive execution and ability to clean the offensive and defensive glass.
“We’ve been saving that up,”�Goodenough said. “Our two keys to the game were to come out and control the boards and take care of the ball, and I think our rebounding effort (+11) balanced out our (20) turnovers.”
Going into the half, down 28-23, A&M needed the offensive production of freshman guard Natasha Summerville to keep the game within reach, who came off the bench to score eight quick points. Aggie Head Coach Peggie Gillom tried to implement a second half press to control OSU, but the Cowgirls found a way to easily navigate the outstretched arms of the Aggie defense with crisp passing.
“We tried to use the press to get us back in the game in the second half, but we just couldn’t sustain it,” Gillom said. “We kept telling our girls that this game was still reachable, but right now we’re just too banged up.”
In fact, despite the Aggie press, OSU came out and hit seven of its first nine shots of the half, including three triples to stretch its lead to 16 within the first five minutes.
OSU Head Coach Goodenough praised her players ability to judiciously dissect the Aggie defense.
“Our girls did a good job making decisions,” she said. “Patience has not been our strong suit all year, but tonight our girls pulled the ball out and played smart.”
In the end, it was the Aggies continued inability to convert on the offensive end that cost them the game. The Cowgirls held junior center Lynn Classen, the Aggies second leading scorer, to just three points for the game, almost seven below her season average.
“We just didn’t come out to play tonight,”�Gillom said. “We’ve been having trouble scoring and we haven’t found someone consistent enough to go to.”
To the Aggies credit, their bench managed to outscore the OSU bench by a margin of 21-0.
Up next for the Aggies will be their final home game of the season against Baylor University this Sunday at 2 p.m.