Cowgirls Battle Back against Iowa State

Oklahoma State had a first-half lead, but had to come back to take its place in the Big 12 semifinals.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:34 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Mar 12, 2010 6:0 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- Oklahoma State built a big early lead, but had to hold off an Iowa State push to win 62-59 Friday and advance to the Big 12 semifinals.

OSU jumped out to a 22-9 lead early in the first half, but the Cowgirls didn’t record a field goal for the final 5:36 second of the half, which allowed their lead to dwindle.

Andrea Riley started the game shooting 4-of-5 from the floor, but finished the half shooting 7-of-24 on her way to 18 points. Iowa State only took 25 shots.

Turnovers killed the Cyclones early on, but OSU’s poor shooting late allowed them to chip away at the lead. The Cowgirls went into the locker room with a 24-22 lead.

Precious Robinsonscored her first field goal in the opening seconds of the second half, but Iowa State’s Anna Prins scored six straight to give the Cyclones a 28-26 lead, the first of the half. That would turn into a nine-point run that extended the lead to 33-27.

Eleven minutes later, Riley scored eight straight for Oklahoma State to retake the lead 54-50.

The teams traded baskets for the remaining three minutes, and Riley iced the game with four free throws with less than 15 seconds left in the game.

Riley finished the game with a Big 12 tournament record 43 points on a 16-of-44 shooting performance. The rest of the Cowgirls combined for 24 shots.

Oklahoma State takes on Oklahoma Saturday at 2:30 p.m.