The last go around

As the clock ticked down on senior night and her illustrious career in Stillwater, Andrea Riley smiled so widely that her orange and black mouth guard nearly slipped out onto the floor.

Four years, thousands of points and countless school, Big 12 and NCAA records culminated into a single moment, and she simply couldn’t contain herself.

The Cowgirls compiled a 78-70 victory against 13th-ranked Iowa State on Wednesday at Gallagher-Iba Arena, sending off Riley and fellow seniors Tegan Cunningham, Megan Byford and Ally Clardy on a high note.

“It’s been fun,” Riley said. “It’s been a journey. It’s been magnificent and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Riley had fitting statistics for her final game in Stillwater, leading the Cowgirls with 32 points and seven assists.

Cunningham added 20 points and eight assists. She said she tried not to let herself get emotional but instead focus on the task at hand.

“I didn’t really cry at all,” she said. “I tried to hold it in and be the strong one. I was more excited like ‘Let’s just play now.’”

The Cyclones (22-6, 10-5) played without senior point guard Alison Lacey, who averages 17 points and more than six assists for them.

OSU coach Kurt Budke said he and his coaching staff found out just minutes before the game Lacey would not play due to an illness.

“We prepared for two days to stop her,” Budke said. “So it was like, ‘We just wasted two days.’”

Riley said missing out on a matchup of two of the best point guards in the Big 12 took a little weight off her shoulders.

“It’s kind of a breath of fresh air, but you can’t relax at all because they are a good team,” Riley said. “They played without her when they went to (No. 3) Nebraska and only lost by 10.”

Oklahoma State shot 24-27 from the free-throw line as a team, including Riley knocking down 14 of her 16 attempts.

Outside of free throws, Budke said he didn’t think the Cowgirls (21-8, 9-6) played up to their potential despite beating the No. 13 team.

“I don’t think we were phenomenal in anything we did tonight except for the senior presentations — I thought that was good,” he said.

Budke said it is always a big victory when the Cowgirls can knock off a ranked Iowa State team, but he was also looking at the bigger picture.

“Give a lot of credit to my seniors,” he said. “I thought they all contributed in their own way, and that’s really what it’s about.”