Lady Bears maul Cowgirls

Baylor came into Gallagher-Iba Arena touting an undefeated record, the number one ranked squad, and a player whom many consider to be the best in the country.

All three were on display Wednesday night as the Lady Bears cruised to an 83-52 win over the Cowgirls.   

"We played a great team tonight," coach Jim Littell said.  "They are strong at every position and are very worthy of their ranking."    

Baylor (26-0, 13-0 Big 12) outplayed the Cowgirls in almost all aspects of the game.  The Lady Bears shot almost 55 percent from the field and held a 46-16 points in the paint advantage.

"(Baylor) is very well coached," Little said.  "They are hard to play because they do a lot of things that are unconventional."

The Cowgirls (13-9, 5-8) have now lost 5 of their last 6 games.

In the second half, OSU was able cut the Baylor lead to 16 with just under 17 minutes left, but that was as close as Baylor would allow them to get. 

"When you play Baylor, you have to be as close to perfect as possible if you are going to win," Littell said.  "But I think we did some things that are better than what the score showed."     

The game started slow for both teams.  It wasn't until around midway through the first half that either team went on a run.  Baylor went on a 9-2 run at the 12 minute mark and never looked back. 

"At the under 12 minute media timeout, they were shooting 81 percent from the floor," Littell said.  "Give (Baylor) credit, they hit shots and ran their offense well."   

The Cowgirls trailed 41-24 at halftime.  Offensively, made baskets were hard to come by as OSU shot just 9-33, good enough for 27.3 percent and were without a double digit scorer. 

"I thought we got some good shots and just didn't make them," Littell said. 

OSU made just 6 of 27 three point attempts.  Half of those were made by Taylor Schippers, who led the Cowgirls in scoring with 11 points.

"I was getting a lot of good looks," Schippers said.  "I was in a slump so I figured I should get out of it at some point."  

Brittney Griner showed why many deem her the best player in the country as she was a matchup problem all night for the Cowgirls.  She finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks. 

"There is no weakness to her game right now," Littell said.  "She can beat you with the pass, scoring or defense."

Next the Cowgirls travel to College Station to take on the Aggies of Texas A&M on Saturday.  OSU beat in the Aggies in Gallagher-Iba Arena earlier in the year. 

Going forward, Coach Littell still believes the Cowgirls have a realistic shot at an NCAA Tournament bid.   

"I don't think it's impossible for eight wins to get you in the NCAA tournament," Littell said.  "We have got to make improvement these last three weeks."