For nearly 27 minutes of action in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday afternoon, it seemed as if the No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers women’s basketball team had the edge over the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. However, the remaining portion of play was so overwhelmingly dominated by the Cowgirls that it’d prove too much for the Mountaineers to overcome.
WVU carried a 38-33 lead into the halftime break and outscored Oklahoma State 10-6 in the final minutes of a clash between teams locked amidst a four-way tie for third place in the Big 12 early in a long winter of conference play.
But over a 13:01 stretch of play beginning at the start of the third period of play, the Mountaineers were outscored 25-9 by the Cowgirls. WVU could barely buy a basket during that particular section of the game, shooting just 3-of-18 from the field. They would start to hit a few shots as the minutes waned in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late as Oklahoma State would walk away with a 64-57 win.
That dry spell would leave the Mountaineers (13-3) finishing the game shooting just 20-of-60 from the field and 7-of-26 from behind-the-arc. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State (14-2) had a more consistent scoring approach which saw them finish 23-of-50 shooting overall and 6-of-19 from three-point range – and that would prove to be the big difference maker in a game that was otherwise relatively even statistically.
It’s not the first time that the Mountaineers have gotten themselves in trouble with streaky stretches on offense in Big 12 action, as they dropped their conference opener to Colorado in December 65-60 despite leading by 11 points entering the final period of play. In that loss, the Mountaineers were outscored 25-9 in the fourth quarter alone while shooting 2-of-12 from the field.
Kylee Blacksten led WVU in scoring with 16 points while J.J. Quinerly added 10 points. Stailee Heard paced Oklahoma State with 18 points, while Anna Gret Asi chipped in 12 points and Micah Gray added 11.