Cowgirls have big challenge
Oklahoma State has a tough task Monday, facing top-seeded Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss.
STARKVILLE, MISS. — Oklahoma State was a wake-up call for thenNo. 3 Mississippi State when the Cowgirls’ came to Starkville just three months ago. They were the Bulldogs’ first challenge all season, putting them up against the ropes and taking them down to the wire.
Oklahoma State lost that game 79-76, but it ended with Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer giving a call to action to last year’s national runner-up. They needed to step up.
This time, as the two teams meet again in the same place, it’s a second round NCAA Tournament game between No. 1 seed Mississippi State and No. 9 Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma State coach Jim Littell knows the daunting task in front of the Cowgirls. He spoke after Saturday’s first-round win against Syracuse about the challenge this 33-1 title contender provides.
At the same time, though, he wasn’t afraid to embrace Maryland-Baltimore County’s historymaking 16-seed upset of No. 1 Virginia on Friday night as proof of what’s possible.
“Crazy things happen in this game,” Littell said Saturday. “We saw it on the men’s side last night. That’s why you play the game every time out.”
What might come in handy for the Cowgirls is the fact they are coming off what star guard Loryn Goodwin called one of their better games of the season. They dominated No. 8 Syracuse 84-57, even while playing fast and somewhat out of character.
Goodwin scored 19 points with eight assists, five rebounds and five steals. Center Kaylee Jenson had another 19 points with 12 rebounds, and freshman guard Jaden Hobbs broke out with 27 points on eight-ofnine 3-point shooting. The team also defended the Syracuse perimeter attack as planned, holding the Orange to 33 percent shooting.
That kind of inside-out play Littell prides his team on hasn’t been lost on their next opponent, either.
Star Mississippi State forward Victoria Vivians spoke highly of Oklahoma State’s top guard play and the post presence it brings inside. Schaefer said the same.
“They really looked laser focused to me,” Schaefer said. “Their size, their physicality and their guard display is sharp. They’ve got a sixth-year senior out there. It’s a veteran ballclub, and they are well coached.”
It might be easy for the Bulldogs to remember that guard play, because Goodwin went off for 35 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in that Dec. 3 matchup. That includes 15 points in the fourth quarter to bring the deficit from 11 to 3.
Now, Oklahoma State needs to take the lessons from the first time playing and the lessons from its first NCAA Tournament win and carry it into one of the biggest games of the players’ lives.
Oklahoma State was favored against Syracuse. Mississippi State is one of the most dominant teams in the country, one that scored 95 points Saturday night even when their coaches and players came down hard on themselves for how sloppy they played.
It’s no longer about Goodwin finally making her first tournament appearance or Jensen finally earning her first win. It’s now about trying to go on a run.
“We want to see just how deep we can go,” Littell said.