Cowgirls Prepare for Life Without Riley

Originally Published: Mar 16, 2010 6:53 PM CDT

AP Wire Reports and Oklahoma Sports

STILLWATER, Oklahoma -- No. 20 Oklahoma State is bracing for life without its superstar Andrea Riley.

Riley, the nation's third-leading scorer, will serve a one-game suspension during the Cowgirls' first-round game against Chattanooga (24-8) on Saturday night in the NCAA tournament.

Riley averages 26.6 points and she's also seventh in the nation with 6.5 assists. The school calculated that she had a hand in 57 percent of the Cowgirls' scoring during the regular season.

The NCAA issued the suspension after Riley took a swipe at LSU's Erica White during a regional semifinal game two years ago to be served during her next NCAA tournament game. The team missed the tournament last year, so she will watch from the stands as Oklahoma State plays its tournament opener in Tempe, Ariz.

"It'll be different, definitely," center Megan Byford said. "But it's a true test to us that we're a good group of basketball players. We all do little things that help make Andrea better, and she makes us better. I think we've done a lot of work outside of this week, because we knew it was coming, to get prepared."

Many times, Riley is where the Cowgirls (23-10) begin and end. The ball starts out in the speedy point guard's hands almost every possession and winds up there, too. She attempts 24 shots per game, 38 percent of her team's total.

"We've got to find a way to win one game," coach Kurt Budke said. "Obviously, you're talking about someone that is in control of 80 percent of our offense most of the time. But the girls have known this was coming for a long time."

That's the silver lining, if there is one, for Oklahoma State.

As Oklahoma State returned to prominence this season with a new supporting cast around Riley, a key task for the team became earning a high enough seed that it could win a first-round game without her.

Budke was pleased that the selection committee didn't penalize the Cowgirls in anticipation of Riley's absence, and gave them a No. 4 seed.

Riley is just eager to get all this over with after two long years. For one game, she'll become a cheerleader.

"I'm not going to mope in my sorrow. I'm just going to say,`Yeah, I wish I was out there' but I already know that I'm not going to be able to, so we already accepted the facts," Riley said. "Now, we just have to move on and they're just going to play their butts off."

Riley and her team eagerly watched television Monday night waiting to here where they'd be heading for first round action. They drew a Chattanooga team that dominated at times this season. They've won 25 or more games in three of the past four years and enter round one in Arizona with 24 victories this season.

Knowing they won't have Riley in round one, the Cowgirls are hoping Saturday night is not the time the Mocs' add to recent success.