Thursday, February 12, 2009
By Brice Cherry
Tribune-Herald staff writer
STILLWATER, Okla. — For most of the players in Kim Mulkey’s Baylor rotation, it’s not the first rodeo in Cowgirl country.
That experience and poise made a difference Wednesday night.
Despite falling behind by as many as nine points in the second half, the No. 7 Lady Bears surged back to upend win-starved Oklahoma State in overtime, 64-62, before a partisan, orange-clad crowd of 3,102 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Andrea Riley, the Big 12’s most ruthless scorer, had a shot to win the game for the Cowgirls with time winding down in overtime, but her 26-foot launch rimmed in and out, and BU’s Rachel Allison rebounded to help the Lady Bears escape.
“It was a game we could have very easily lost when we got down eight or whatever it was with nine or 10 minutes to go,” Mulkey said. “I just thought we never showed any panic. We were very poised. I thought your three seniors tonight were big.”
Indeed, BU’s three elder starters — Allison, Jhasmin Player and Jessica Morrow — proved to be a steadying force for the seemingly unflappable Lady Bears, who are now 5-0 in Big 12 road games.
“Tonight there was a difference on the poise,” said Player, who scored 19 points, the second straight game she’s notched a season high. “We go down eight and we don’t get rattled. We’ve got Jess (Morrow) telling everybody to calm down, D (Danielle Wilson) telling everyone to calm down, shots are going to fall. That just made me feel better about the game in general.”
“I’m just impressed that our seniors never got rattled tonight,” Mulkey added.
Baylor (20-3 overall, 8-2 in the Big 12) clung to a 27-24 lead at the half, but that quickly evaporated after the break. Riley began launching — and hitting — from NBA 3-point range, sparking a 15-4 Cowgirl spurt to open the second half.
After Riley hit another one from the vicinity of Tulsa, OSU (14-8, 3-6) built its biggest lead of the game at 47-38 with 10:18 to play.
Yet the Lady Bears’ posture didn’t buckle. Showing patience offensively, they chipped away at the gap, pulling to withing two at 56-54 on a Player 3-pointer with 2:21 left.
Moments later, Kelli Griffin zipped a pass in transition to Player for a layup that tied the game at 56 with 1:45 remaining.
The Lady Bears had a chance to slip away with the win with the score tied at 58 at the end of regulation. Player freed herself of an OSU defender with a ball-fake and pulled up for an open 14-footer, but the shot bounced off the rim.
“I didn’t think I was going to be that wide open,” Player said. “It should have gone down. I could have taken my time a little more, but I just didn’t think it would be that open. But, overtime we win the game, so that shot doesn’t even matter now, does it?”
The Lady Bears’ overtime work paid off, but it didn’t come easy. Baylor had four free throws in the final 1:12 that could have extended their lead, but missed all four. Baylor hit only 6 of 16 foul shots for a season-worst 37.5 percent — the second straight game the team has set a new season low.
“You look at some of the stats and you say, ‘How did we win that game?’” Mulkey said.
BU won, in part, behind its defense, especially Morrow’s constant harassing of Riley, who shot 8-of-34. Mulkey also credited the effort of her posts defensively, helping on screens to limit Riley’s penetration.
Riley finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, but didn’t take a single free throw. For the second straight game against Baylor, Riley didn’t get much help. Shaunte Smith was the only other Cowgirl to reach double figures in scoring, with 11.
Wilson matched Player for team-high honors for Baylor, scoring 19 points to go with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. The junior center came up big in overtime, at one point blocking the shot of OSU’s Kristin Hernandez and then snatching up the rebound.
“This one hurts a little more than any of them so far,” said OSU coach Kurt Budke, whose team will play its fourth straight ranked team Sunday at Kansas State. “I thought the kids executed a game plan as close to perfect as we could do it. It’s just hard to win in this league when you shoot 32 percent.”
Oklahoma State won the battle on the backboards, 53-51, becoming the first BU opponent to pull that off this season.
But in the end, that stat wasn’t the one that mattered.
“It’s the first time all year we were outrebounded, and I am disappointed in that,” Mulkey said. “But I’ll take a win over that any day.”
Baylor returns home to play Missouri at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
bcherry@wacotrib.com
757-5714
Comments
By BU Class of 75
Feb 12, 2009 10:15 AM | Link to this
Congrats, Lady Bears. It's nice to have at least one Baylor basketball team playing up to its potential and showing it knows how to win a tough game down the stretch.
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