Women's Basketball Notebook: Cowgirls offense struggles

After using its defensive ability to beat No. 14 Texas A&M, Oklahoma State came out flat on offense against Kansas State.

In a game that was close early started to get away from OSU as it started to rush shots. The Cowgirls were not able to keep up with Kansas State once the Wildcats got into a groove on offense.

"We didn't show a lot of patience offensively," coach Jim Littell said. "When we got behind, we tried to start doing it as individuals, and we don't have anybody that's talented enough to do that.

"We need to get better, and execute what we do. And understand that when somebody takes away the first option, that you got to be able to go to the second and third option."

Even after trailing early, once the shots stopped falling for K-State the Cowgirls were able to make a late push at a comeback, coming to within six points of the Wildcats.  

Youth Movement

This year's Cowgirls do not have a senior on their roster.  On Saturday, they faced a Kansas State team with three seniors in its starting lineup. 

Jim Littell hopes the young Cowgirls' learning curve happens rather quickly.

"You have to understand the nature of this league and how tough it is every night out," Littell said. 

Despite their inexperience, the Cowgirls are 12-5 record, which includes a victory against defending national champion Texas A&M on Tuesday. 

Littell felt the Cowgirls weren't able to juggle the success of that win with the preparation for Kansas State. 

"We told our team that Kansas State was going to come in here with a sense of urgency and you needed to match that urgency," Littell said.  "It appears after a great win that we didn't handle prosperity very well."

After being down by as many as 26 points in the second half, the Cowgirls were able to cut the deficit to six points with little more than a minute to go. 

While they were able to make it close, Littell believes the mental adjustments for his team are simple. 

"We need compete harder on the defensive end, which is where a lot of our game is based on," he said. 

Perimeter Troubles

Kansas State entered the game shooting 38 percent on 3-pointers.  In the first half, it shot 58 percent. 

 "A lot of that was heavily contested and lot of it was due to our defensive mistakes," Littell said.

The Wildcats cooled off in the second half to finish the game at their season average, but the strong start was enough to hold off the Cowgirls late rally. 

"There is some stuff we didn't do defensively that we should have done," guard Tiffany Bias said. "We dug ourselves a hole. "

The Cowgirls were unable to match the Wildcats perimeter shooting, making 27 percent of their 3-point attempts. 

Bias said she knows that that is a part of basketball.

"It is something that we learn from and I hope we move on and get the next one," she said.