Cowgirls squander late lead, lose 77-68 to No. 22 Baylor

Jacie Hoyt analyzed her postgame stat sheet with somberness.

The Oklahoma State took a moment to reflect. Utter silence struck the Gallagher-Iba Arena media room as Hoyt skimmed over every miniscule detail on the sheet.

Then she spoke. 

“I’ve been a part of a lot of losses, but none quite like this one, I would say,” Hoyt said. “Where we really gave the game away.”

OSU fell 77-68 to No. 22 Baylor on Wednesday afternoon despite holding a 19-point lead with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter. 

When Baylor coach Nicki Collen was asked how she addressed her team after she called a timeout down 19, she responded bluntly — “Oh, you don’t want to know.”

Whatever she said, it worked. 

Anything that could have gone wrong for Hoyt’s team down the stretch did. From three players entering the fourth period in foul trouble to sloppy turnovers in transition opportunities and missed free throws late, the mistakes culminated. And eventually, they snowballed into an agonizing defeat. 

But above all else, the foul trouble was perhaps the most detrimental element to OSU’s loss.

Sophomore guard Jadyn Wooten quickly took the game by storm. Her plus-minus reached 22 midway through the third quarter as she led all scorers with 16. Each pass she made led to an open shot, as the Cowgirls’ (12-3, 1-1 Big 12) offense scored at will.

“Wooten’s efficiency this year is honestly spectacular,” Collen said. “She might be the best midrange shooter in college basketball right now.

“But that’s what makes her hard to guard. She does a good job of creating space, and goes so quickly into her pullup that it’s hard to get to and you got to have length on her, really, to even contest it.”

But Wooten’s foul total piled. And piled. And piled. 

First Wooten entered foul trouble. Then guards Micah Gray and Amari Whiting. Hoyt said she gradually noticed her team playing less aggressive defensively and more passive offensively. 

By the time Wooten fouled 4:34 remaining in the game, OSU’s offense had already reached a standstill. From that moment on, it was nonexistent.

“(Wooten fouling out) killed us — it killed us,” Hoyt said. “I say that because I think that Jadyn is one of the best facilitators in the country. We are different with her on the floor. Our pace is different. She’s been with me for some time now — she knows what we do, she knows what we want, she knows what I’m looking for, (we) didn’t have that. And that’s a tough way to live, (being) without her.”

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Baylor bullied OSU in its home confines for the final 11:34 of the game. OSU entered the contest averaging close to 12 3-point makes per game. On Monday, it made five, shooting a season-low 19.2% from behind the arc. 

The Lady Bears (12-3, 1-1 Big 12) outscored the Cowgirls 29-8 in the fourth quarter, putting a damper on any joyous New Years Eve spirits for the home team. 

“I just feel like we kind of relaxed,” Gray said. “We got too comfortable. We got the lead, and we just didn’t want to be as aggressive, and then also the foul trouble (hurt us) as well. And just coming off this loss, we definitely have to focus on the details and just being connected as (a team). I just feel like when the games get hard, like they did today, we don’t have really that much connectivity on the floor. So, we just have to find that.”

Hoyt, now in her fourth year at the helm, has taken OSU to new heights. Collen went as far as calling Hoyt one of the “best Xs and Os coach in the conference.”

Other opportunities lie ahead for OSU. A rebound game against Houston at home will take place Jan. 3 before the Cowgirls travel to Fort Worth for a clash with No. 7 TCU four days later. Hoyt has often stated her confidence in her team’s offensive lethality and play-making ability, and she reiterated that sense of solace postgame.

"You have to learn from the losses and that's what I hope our team understands," Hoyt said. "...But our players will put this behind them. I'm confident they will."

But on Wednesday, old woes Hoyt hoped had been patched resurfaced. And in the end, they came costly. 

“We weren’t tough as nails,” Hoyt said. “We weren’t tough when it mattered. We got casual, we relaxed at the end of quarters and we put ourselves in a tough, tough position with foul trouble. 

“That’s a tough way to play. And that’s our fault. We were not very disciplined today.”