Lady Bears Drop First Conference Game to OSU

The Lady Bears started off the first quarter with a three from Jaden Owens, which was almost immediately followed by a bucket in the paint by Caitlin Bickle. Oklahoma State followed that up with five points of their own, making it 5-5 at about the 7:15 mark in play. The Cowgirls went on an 11-2 run and despite Baylor’s efforts, OSU remained on top with a score of 15-19 going into the second quarter.

Bella Fontleroy put the ball in the hole quickly to start the second quarter with a nice reverse layup assisted by Sarah Andrews. This quarter was pretty similar to the first; Baylor would knock down some shots and begin to cut the gap just for Oklahoma State to match them. Bella Fontleroy led the scoring this half, with eight points. The Cowgirl’s defense held Baylor to 13 points this time around, making the score 28-34 at half.

The Lady Bears were smothered on defense in the first half. They shot 8% from three and scored fairly low in both quarters. They kept it close but changes needed to be made in order for them to have a chance at coming out on top.

The Bears moved the ball well to start the second half, passing it all the way around and finishing with a Bickle Bucket. OSU stayed vigilant this quarter. It felt like every shot Baylor made, they had one to answer. The Lady Bears finished off the third quarter with a 5-0 run, cutting Oklahoma State’s lead to five: 43-48.

Back-to-back threes from Sarah Andrews brought the score to 49-52 early in the third, reminding us of the scorer she is. She’d been fairly quiet up to this point in the game. Ja’Mee Asberry followed those threes with one of her own, tying the game up! The Cowgirls did what they had done all game, and matched these with two more threes of their own, taking a 6-point lead. Baylor fought back to a 2-point deficit by making six straight free-throws, making the score 58-60 with 2:50 left in the game. This wasn’t enough though, as OSU ended up holding them off to the buzzer. Final score: 65-70

Following up with the presser, it felt like the players and coaches agreed that Baylor got comfortable. Coach Collen felt like in order to win tonight they needed to guard the three, and she didn’t believe they did that very well. Jaden Owens also said that this game will be fuel to the fire and push them to be even better these coming weeks in a tough Big 12 conference.