STILLWATER —
Rarely does the Oklahoma State women’s basketball team have a size advantage over its opponents — preferring to use its speed to wear down its Big 12 foes.
But on a night where Oklahoma State had a distinct size advantage, it was the smallest player on the court that had the biggest impact for the Cowgirls in their 76-59 win over Texas Christian Tuesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
“I thought Tiffany (Bias) was really good tonight,” Oklahoma State coach Jim Littell said. “... We asked her to do what she did in the Iowa State game — just really lock somebody down. (Zahna) Medley has been the freshman of the week quite a few times. She’s a nice player and nice talent. Besides Tiff’s stat line, I thought she was exceptional on the defensive end of the floor.”
Bias finished with a 19 points, eight assists and five steals, but it was her lock down defense on Medley — who had been averaging 13.4 points for the Horned Frogs — that helped the Cowgirls (16-5, 5-5 in Big 12) turn what could have been a much closer game into a blowout.
“I knew that she’s a freshman point guard that’s been playing well,” Bias said. “You have to slow her down at the beginning, you don’t want her to get on a run. I just scouted her and played her how she needs to play.”
It wasn’t always easy for the Cowgirls. Oklahoma State seemingly didn’t have an answer for TCU’s perimeter attack — led by Natalie Ventress, who tallied a game-high 24 points while making 6 of 8 3-pointers.
“We gave up some early 3s that I didn’t like, but then we got into a stretch for about 10 minutes where I didn’t think they got a good look,” Littell said. “We rebounded off of it and played some pretty good defense. We gave up quite a few points in the second half, but that’s a credit to them. They hit some shots and made some plays.”
Ventress’ back-to-back 3-pointers put the Horned Frogs (7-14, 0-10 in Big 12) up 6-0 less than a minute into the game.
That’s when Bias and Oklahoma State took over. The Cowgirls answered with a 30-4 run during a 10 minute span, capped off by Bias’ third 3-pointer of the first half to give Oklahoma State a 30-10 lead with 8:17 left in the first half.
“TCU came out hot and we just had to respond,” Bias said. “We can’t really get rattled about (falling behind) 6-0. We just responded and hit shots down the road.”
Even as Ventress continued to pour it in from beyond the arc, Oklahoma State’s size proved to be a difficult matchup for TCU on both ends of the floor. By halftime, six of TCU’s eight baskets came from beyond the arc as Oklahoma State held the Horned frogs to 27.6 percent from the field en route to a 44-24 halftime lead.
“This was our fourth game in nine days — three out of four on the road,” TCU coach Jeff Mittie said. “We just didn’t seem to have the legs defensively. We shot it fine — we shot it OK from 3 — so that didn’t impact that area. But we didn’t seem to be moving in the zone and we didn’t seem to have that sense of urgency to move.”
Bias may have had the hot hand in the first half, knocking down 3 of 5 shots from 3, but it was Toni Young who took control once TCU’s legs finally started to wear out.
Young tallied a double-double in the second half alone, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds as Oklahoma State tallied 45 total rebounds and never let TCU within less than 15 throughout the entire second half. Young also finished with five blocks, putting her six away from becoming Oklahoma State’s all-time leading shot blocker.
“I just have to stay calm, do what I do best, and pretty much score over people,” Young said. “Coach (Littell) told me what to do and I just had to do it.”
With a two-game losing streak in the rearview mirror, the Cowgirls now have set their sights on a new goal — winning Bedlam.
“This is a big win,” Littell said. “Every time you get a win in this conference, it’s greatly appreciated and well-earned. We’ve just got to get some rest now. We’ve got to be smart about how we practice out team. We need to let them get their legs back. We’ll get some rest and we’ll be ready when we go into OU.”
“You can’t always reflect on the last game,” Young said. “You have to let those go after they are over and focus on the next one. Just like with this win, we have to let it go and move on to the next one.”
NICK SNOW is a sports reporter with the Stillwater NewsPress.
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Cowgirls' Bias steps up in win over TCU
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Edmond's Valuck ties for third after opening round of Mid Amateur
Oklahoma Golf Association
Mid Amateur Championship
Stillwater Country Club
June 17-18, 2013
Round 1 Results
Don Clark, Shawnee, Okla. - 34-35--69
Austin Hannah, Jenks, Okla. - 33-38--71
Kacey Threet, Grove, Oklahoma - 34-38--72
Jeff Tyrrell, Duncan, Okla. - 34-38--72
Jon Valuck, Edmond, Okla. - 34-38--72
Tyler Hall, Moore, Okla. - 34-39--73
Tom Zeiders, Tulsa, Okla. - 35-38--73
Brad Christianson, Jenks, Okla. - 36-37--73
Justin Jang, Norman, Okla. - 40-34--74
Phillip Bryan, Mustang, Okla. - 35-39--74
Jim Davis, Stillwater, Okla. - 34-40--74
Shawn Barker, Bartlesville, Okla. - 34-41--75
Brent Taylor, Bartlesville, Okla. - 38-38--76
Jeff Coffman, Oklahoma City, Okla. - 37-39--76
Blake Gibson, Yukon, Okla. - 33-43--76
Brent Gregg, Okc, Okla. - 37-39--76
Don Howard, Ponca, Oklahoma - 39-37--76
Ryan Munson, Edmond, Okla. - 39-38--77
Aaron Wilson, Stillwater, Okla. - 36-41--77
Jose Delgado, Tulsa, Okla. - 37-40--77
Brett Alcorn, Edmond, Okla. - 39-38--77
Max Showalter, Oklahoma City, Okla. - 36-41--77
John Stansbury, Edmond, Oklahoma - 35-42--77
Neil Metz, Edmond, Okla. - 38-39--77 -
Broncho wrestling program signs 7
Perennial national wrestling power Central Oklahoma has added five Oklahoma All-Staters and a pair of junior college All-Americans to the program for 2013-14, including locals Josh Breece of Edmond North and Alec Warren of Edmond Memorial.
High school stars signing with the Bronchos were Josh Breece of Edmond North, Zac D’Amico of Southmoore, John Jacob Finn of Westmoore, Tyler Tustin of Poteau and Alec Warren of Edmond Memorial, while Jeromy Davenport and Spencer Rutherford of Labette Community College also inked letters of intent. -
6 Edmond golfers hit pro links in Norman
Six Edmond golf professionals will tee it up Wednesday in the Second Annual OK Kids Korral Championship at Belmar Golf Club in Norman.
One hundred-eight players make up this year’s event on the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series. This includes five amateurs and 15 of the top 25 players on the 2013 AGPTS money list including last week’s winner in Miami, Okla. Mark Walker of Hurst, Texas, who is currently third among the money leaders.
Players from Edmond include William Kropp, Andrew Green, Dillon Rust, Wilhelm Bogstrand, Jackson Ogle and Cameron Meyers. -
UCO Endeavor Games athletes qualify for 2014 world championship powerlifting team
At the University of Central Oklahoma’s Endeavor Games for Athletes with Physical Disabilities June 6-9, four athletes qualified for the 2014 World Championships in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) powerlifting competition.
The qualifying athletes include Trevor Bunch from O’Fallon, Mo.; who is making his World Championships debut; Scott Danberg from Cooper City, Fla., a five-time Paralympian; Bryce Segura from New Iberia, La., who is competing in his first World Championships; and Mary Stack from Ann Arbor, Mich., a four-time Paralympian. -
Two UCO rowers named All-American
Central Oklahoma rowers Jenna Goodner and Michaela Stam have been named to the NCAA Division II All-America Team, it was announced by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association.
Goodner was a first-team selection, while Stam was a second-team choice. All-America selections take into account a candidate’s strength of schedule, regular season record, end of season regatta results, nomination rank, coach’s comments and 2,000-meter ergometer score. -
The remembrance remains fresh
The celebration is not over.
The Deer Creek girls basketball team continued to relive March’s state basketball championship Friday at Deer Creek High School with a Class 5A state championship ring ceremony.
Head coach Totsy Manning greeted each of her players by presenting them with a title ring.
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Traffic shouldn’t be an issue with upcoming national soccer tournament
About 15,000 people are expected at the U.S. Youth Soccer Southern Regional at the Edmond Soccer Complex on Danforth Road near Kelly Avenue June 21-27.
The number of out-of-state guests should not be a problem according to Assistant City Manager Steve Commons. The tournament will attract more than 200 boys and girls teams, ages Under-13 through Under-19, from the 12 state associations that make up U.S. Youth Soccer Region III (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, north Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, south Texas and Tennessee).
As a matter of fact, Commons feels very upbeat about the prospect of Edmond hosting the national tournament. -
LaFaye takes Pick-A-Partner crown with 135
The KickingBird Men’s Golf Assocation’s Pick-A-Partner was won by Robert LaFaye Saturday with a 135.
Sean Conrad took second (136) while Kevin Wright and Kevin O’Neil deadlocked for third place at 137. -
UCO overtakes Division II foes for national title
Starting out the postseason, the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos softball team puttered out in the MIAA Tournament.
But UCO shifted it into another gear when the rounds of regionals began and rode the wild momentum going undefeated en route to securing the NCAA II national championship over Kutztown (Pa.) in Salem, Va.
The Bronchos dominated, going 9-0 straight through to the national title contest on May 27. -
2013 US Youth Soccer Region III Championships to bring more than $8 million to Edmond area
he 2013 US Youth Soccer Region III (South) Championships presented by the National Guard, to be played June 21-27, will provide an estimated economic impact of more than $8 million to the Edmond area.
Local restaurants, hotels, retail stores and others will benefit from the more than 3,600 players, coaches, teams and tournament officials, along with an estimated 12,000 spectators attending the seven-day tournament. Visitors to the Edmond area will book an estimated 10,000 room nights at area hotels.
The top 200 Boys and Girls US Youth Soccer teams from Region III, including at least 19 teams from the host Oklahoma Soccer Association, will compete at the Edmond Soccer Club Complex. - More Sports Headlines
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Edmond's Valuck ties for third after opening round of Mid Amateur
