Published: November 19, 2008 02:14 pm         

Cowgirls learn from Duke loss

There’s one thing Kurt Budke likes about opening a season against a Top 10 opponent.

“You might not understand all your strengths, but you will find your weaknesses,” the Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach said. “We found some definite things we have to work on to get better.”

The No. 19 Cowgirls appeared to be on the verge of pulling off an upset but dropped a 77-68 to sixth-ranked Duke last Friday at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium. OSU held a nine-point advantage at halftime, 44-35, but the Blue Devils started the second half on a 20-0 run.

“It was a lot of different things, maybe we didn’t come out quite as intense as we did in the first half,” said OSU junior Megan Byford. “They hit us pretty hard and we didn’t fight back as much as we should have.”

Although O-State committed only 12 turnovers, it was outrebounded, 57-42, and gave up 26 offensive boards — which led to Duke capitalizing on 29 second-chance points. In addition, the Cowgirls’ second-half shooting left plenty to be desired.

Junior Andrea Riley, the Big 12’s leading scorer a year ago, had 20 points in the first 20 minutes Friday, but connected on just 3-of-16 attempts in the second period.

“It looked to me like they were in NCAA form and I didn’t think we were,” Budke said. “The good thing is it’s game one, and we’ve got maybe 30 left.”

For several weeks leading up to the game, Budke referred to Duke as a Final Four team. If the Cowgirls were able to hang tough with a potential Final Four squad on its home court, what does that mean for Budke’s crew?

“It shows we do have some potential,” the fourth-year boss said. “(Friday) confirmed that we got some gamers on this team that know how to get it done. Those kids came through and we need to get some of the new and inexperienced kids some time so they can help us also.”

Byford added, “Even though we got into an adverse situation, we didn’t give up. When somebody goes on a 20-0 roll, you could easily roll over and die but we fought and showed we’re going to give everything we have until the last seconds of the ball game.”

Friday also gave the Cowgirls the opportunity to compete in one of the nation’s most storied arenas, which was filled with 6,296 rowdy Blue Devil fans.

“(Cameron Indoor) is an amazing place to get to play,” said Byford, who made her first trip to the arena. “There’s so much history in that gym. Most of the great basketball players have played there and it adds to the specialness of the place.

“There’s definitely an atmosphere in there, quite similar to what we had when we played OU (last season at Gallagher-Iba Arena). I definitely see why they say it’s one of the best, but I still think we have the best.”

The Cowgirls will play their first home game of the season tonight as they host McNeese State (0-2) at 7 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the schools. MSU is coming off Sunday’s 58-56 loss at Tulsa. Meanwhile, O-State (0-1) plays five of its next six outings inside GIA.

“Even thought we lost (to Duke), it shows us what we need to work on,” Byford said. “There’s still a lot of growing room for us.”

     

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