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OSU rode a sloppy defensive performance to a 5 point deficit at halftime, trailing TCU 34-29. According to Tiffany Bias, the new career assists leader at OSU, Coach Littell told them they "weren't defending like Cowgirls."
That must have hit home, because TCU only managed 14 points against stifling Cowgirl pressure in the 2nd half.
That was great, but OSU wasn't fairing much better themselves on the offensive end, with several players, according to radio observations, appearing a bit timid to take shots. Liz Donohoe was especially ineffective, going scoreless and getting pulled late.
Into the void steps true freshman Roshunda Johnson.
"Ro Dog," as Bias referred to her in the post game, hit a huge 3 to give the Cowgirls their first lead of the game with less than 10 minutes remaining. Then, with TCU leading by one and 15.6 seconds remaining, Brittany Martin pulled down the biggest of her 15 rebounds as the Lady Frogs missed the front end of a 1-1. After OSU's last timeout, as things began to break down, Johnson drove and hit a short pull up jumper to put the Cowgirls ahead for good with 7.6 seconds left.
TCU brought the ball down, but lost control before getting off a shot and Johnson once again was in the spotlight, picking up the loose ball. Fortunately for OSU, the refs did not see her signal for a timeout as time expired, a timeout the Cowgirls did not have, which would have resulted in a technical.
Bias led the scoring for OSU with 17 pts. Johnson was the only other player in double figures with 10. The two guards were a combined 5-9 from behind the arc, while the rest of the team was 0-8. Led by Martin, the Cowgirls out-rebounded TCU 36-31, with 13 offensive boards. The defensively dominated contest saw the teams combine for 32 turnovers and 16 steals (11 for OSU). The officials obviously swallowed their whistles as only 24 fouls were called all night (TCU had 10 for the entire game).
Coach Littell's bunch is now 18-2, 7-2 in the Big 12, tied for 2nd with West Virginia and only a 1/2 game behind Baylor. The Cowgirls head to Norman on Saturday for a 2pm Central Bedlam showdown.
I'm pretty sure they'll bring more to Lloyd Noble than the Cowboys.
GO COWGIRLS!!!