:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/30628747/940x.0.jpg)
Brittany Martin has shown the potential. We've seen flashes.
Tonight, in West Lafayette, we witnessed a super nova.
Martin torched the Boilermakers with a double-double in the 1st half (11-13), and continued her dominance after halftime to lead the Cowgirls to a 73-66 victory over Purdue on their home floor. Martin finished with 20-20 and 2 steals.
OSU took care of their two biggest concerns going into the game...rebounding and 3 pt shooting. The Cowgirls outrebounded Purdue 42-40, and held them to 31% from behind the arc on 5-16 shooting (Purdue came in averaging 38%).
The first 12 minutes were back and forth, but OSU took the lead for good at 23-20 on a Ro Johnson 3 with 7:54 left in the first half. The Cowgirls finished with a 7 point lead at halftime, and Purdue would never get closer than 6 the rest of the game. Twice the lead swelled to 15 points in the 2nd half.
The biggest news, however, may not be good.
Midway through the 2nd half, Tiffany Bias rolled an ankle and looked to be potentially done for the season, much less the game. Unbelievably, she returned with a couple of minutes left to help with ball handling. She was visibly limping once the game ended, so it will be interesting to see how the next few days off treat that injury.
Never mind the Cowgirls grew the lead immediately after her departure. You've got to be liking the future of OSU women's hoops right now.
Here's your box score for the game:
| Oklahoma State Cowgirls | ||||||||||||
| STARTERS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Liz Donohoe F | 4-8 | 1-4 | 3-3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| LaShawn Jones C | 6-9 | 0-0 | 4-7 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| Kendra Suttles C | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Brittney Martin G | 7-16 | 0-0 | 6-10 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| Tiffany Bias G | 2-8 | 0-1 | 3-4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| BENCH | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Katelyn Loecker F | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Roshunda Johnson G | 4-9 | 2-4 | 6-8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Brittany Atkins G | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| 24-56 | 3-10 | 22-32 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 73 | |
| 42.9% | 30.0% | 68.8% | ||||||||||
| Purdue Boilermakers | ||||||||||||
| STARTERS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Liza Clemons F | 4-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Camille Redmon F | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| April Wilson G | 2-5 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Courtney Moses G | 3-12 | 2-7 | 3-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| Dee Williams G | 0-8 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| BENCH | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Whitney Bays F | 8-17 | 0-0 | 5-8 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 21 |
| Bridget Perry G | 2-3 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Hayden Hamby G | 2-5 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Torrie Thornton G | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| 23-61 | 5-16 | 15-23 | 14 | 26 | 40 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 66 | |
| 37.7% | 31.3% | 65.2% | ||||||||||
Whitney Bays expectedly put up 21-13, but the rest of the Boilermakers couldn't get on track as OSU smothered them on the 3pt line. PG Courtney Moses was the only other player in double figures for Purdue.
The Cowgirls had 4 in double figures. Roshunda Johnson played admirably after being thrust into the spotlight by Bias' injury.
Now comes the part that really sucks about this.
After working hard and making it to the Sweet 16, they get to play the undefeated, #1 seed in the bracket on their home court.
34-0 Notre Dame in South Bend.
The NCAA can't afford neutral sites for the regional finals? That really stinks as far as I'm concerned. Doesn't lend itself to the "madness." I totally get why they do it, but it still sucks.
Anyway, here's hoping that Bias' ankle experiences some miracle healing, that Martin's beast mode travels to South Bend, and that the Cowgirls can capture some magic against the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame has won all but 3 games by double digits, and two of those were on the road.
Gametime is 2:30pm Eastern on Saturday, 3/29.
GO POKETTES!!!