Published: January 10, 2009 12:26 am         

Hilton collision

Cowgirls open league slate against Iowa State

Hilton Coliseum can be a scary place for a freshman — just ask Oklahoma State’s Andrea Riley.

During her freshman season in 2006-07, the Cowgirls escaped with a 45-44 victory against Iowa State in front of a hostile Cyclone crowd of 9,982. ISU had an opportunity to secure the win, but Heather Ezell missed a layup with two seconds remaining.

“That was a miracle,” said Riley, who scored just three points in the contest. “There were so many people there. ... We were mentally prepped and we played together.”

OSU coach Kurt Budke added, “We kind of stole one that night, that’s a fact. It was just toe-to-toe for 40 minutes. (Hilton) is a very tough place to play. Their fans are very basketball-smart, they show up in great numbers and Bill Fennelly’s one of the best coaches in this country.”

The No. 21 Cowgirls return to Ames at 3 p.m. today to meet Iowa State in a Big 12 opener that will be televised by Fox Sports Net (Suddenlink 37). The Cyclones are 8-0 are Hilton this season and knocked off then-No. 20 Vanderbilt last weekend.

ISU (12-2), which forced the Commodores into 28 turnovers, is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Cyclones continue to be one of the country’s hottest three-point shooting squads as they rank 10th nationally with eight treys per outing.

Last season at Gallagher-Iba Arena, Fennelly’s crew avenged the previous year’s loss by knocking off the Cowgirls, 62-57.

“We watched the Iowa State game last year (on film) and it really burned us up inside because we’ve seen how we could’ve won that game,” Riley said. “I’m thinking revenge. ... It’s going to be fun. We’re just ready to get back to that intensity that we had a long time ago.”

With the Big 12 season comes a consistent schedule. Throughout the last month, OSU (11-2) had times when it would go five days or even a full week without competing in a game.

Now the Cowgirls can count as always being fresh as most conference games are played on Wednesdays and Saturdays. After today, they return to Stillwater to prepare for Wednesday’s contest against Colorado.

“I’m ready for it, the whole team is eager to get started,” said junior Tegan Cunningham. “You dream of moments like these. ... It’s like a new season. This first game’s going to be tough but once the first one is under our belt, I think we’ll be good.”

Ezell leads the Cyclones this season with 12.4 points per outing, while Alison Lacey averages 10.7 points. The ISU coaching staff includes associate head coach Jack Easley — who spent 19 seasons as an assistant for Dick Halterman at O-State.

During Easley’s tenure with the Cowgirls, they compiled seven NCAA Tournament appearances, a pair of berths in the WNIT as well as three Big Eight championships.

     

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