JimBob
12-29-2007, 09:19 AM
Cowgirls conquer Eagles
By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer
12/29/2007
STILLWATER -- Danielle Green and Maria Cordero combined for 37 points as No. 24 Oklahoma State beat in-state rival Oral Roberts 83-65 Friday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"Give ORU credit for playing a very good game," OSU coach Kurt Budke said. "I said it before, they are a good team. They will win their league. I wasn't very pleased with our effort tonight. I didn't think our concentration was very good. They outplayed us. The wins are nice, but we have to get to another level."
Green scored team-high 22 points and Cordero added 15.
OSU point guard Andrea Riley became the 15th player in school history to reach 200 assists. She finished with seven overall. Riley struggled on offense in the first half, but hit three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 19 points.
"Andrea sometimes lets her offense dictate her game," Budke said. "She has to understand there are nights she will be left out of the scoring, but she can still help us in other ways.
"If you want to find one positive tonight, when Andrea and Maria were on the bench (in the final five minutes of the half), we had that spread. That's what won the game tonight."
Janae Voelker kept the Golden Eagles (7-5) close in the first half, scoring 11 of her team's 28 points. She scored a team-high 23 points before fouling out with 2:52 remaining in the contest.
"The way they played us, I got a lot of good looks," Voelker said. "The second half we got the looks we wanted, we just couldn't convert."
Said ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner, "We knew coming in the margin of error would be small. Anytime you travel to a Big 12 school, it's going to be physical. . . ."
ORU trailed 26-23 with 4:11 to play in the half, but OSU used a 18-5 run over the final 3:26 to pull away for a comfortable 44-28 cushion. Green and Kristin Hernandez keyed the late surge with five points apiece.
Still, the Golden Eagles battled back and cut the deficit to 10 before another Cowgirls spurt put the game away for good.
In the end, ORU had no answer for OSU's inside game as Cordero and Green seemingly scored at will.
"Our off-side defense, I think that's where we were resting," Finkbeiner said. "They got a lot of low-post passes to Green and Cordero. We got beat by a better team."
The Cowgirls did a credible job of shutting down ORU perimeter scorers Mariana Camargo and Rachel Watman.
Camargo's first half contributions were limited to four points due to three fouls and three traveling calls. She finished with nine points.
Watman didn't score until the final minutes of the game to finish with five points. She also suffered seven turnovers.
"Rachel was way off," Finkbeiner said. "Credit Riley. I think she got into (Rachel's) head for about 39 minutes. That might have been maybe OSU's best thing from my point of view."
OSU (11-1) hosts Texas Southern at 7 p.m. Saturday.
By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer
12/29/2007
STILLWATER -- Danielle Green and Maria Cordero combined for 37 points as No. 24 Oklahoma State beat in-state rival Oral Roberts 83-65 Friday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"Give ORU credit for playing a very good game," OSU coach Kurt Budke said. "I said it before, they are a good team. They will win their league. I wasn't very pleased with our effort tonight. I didn't think our concentration was very good. They outplayed us. The wins are nice, but we have to get to another level."
Green scored team-high 22 points and Cordero added 15.
OSU point guard Andrea Riley became the 15th player in school history to reach 200 assists. She finished with seven overall. Riley struggled on offense in the first half, but hit three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 19 points.
"Andrea sometimes lets her offense dictate her game," Budke said. "She has to understand there are nights she will be left out of the scoring, but she can still help us in other ways.
"If you want to find one positive tonight, when Andrea and Maria were on the bench (in the final five minutes of the half), we had that spread. That's what won the game tonight."
Janae Voelker kept the Golden Eagles (7-5) close in the first half, scoring 11 of her team's 28 points. She scored a team-high 23 points before fouling out with 2:52 remaining in the contest.
"The way they played us, I got a lot of good looks," Voelker said. "The second half we got the looks we wanted, we just couldn't convert."
Said ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner, "We knew coming in the margin of error would be small. Anytime you travel to a Big 12 school, it's going to be physical. . . ."
ORU trailed 26-23 with 4:11 to play in the half, but OSU used a 18-5 run over the final 3:26 to pull away for a comfortable 44-28 cushion. Green and Kristin Hernandez keyed the late surge with five points apiece.
Still, the Golden Eagles battled back and cut the deficit to 10 before another Cowgirls spurt put the game away for good.
In the end, ORU had no answer for OSU's inside game as Cordero and Green seemingly scored at will.
"Our off-side defense, I think that's where we were resting," Finkbeiner said. "They got a lot of low-post passes to Green and Cordero. We got beat by a better team."
The Cowgirls did a credible job of shutting down ORU perimeter scorers Mariana Camargo and Rachel Watman.
Camargo's first half contributions were limited to four points due to three fouls and three traveling calls. She finished with nine points.
Watman didn't score until the final minutes of the game to finish with five points. She also suffered seven turnovers.
"Rachel was way off," Finkbeiner said. "Credit Riley. I think she got into (Rachel's) head for about 39 minutes. That might have been maybe OSU's best thing from my point of view."
OSU (11-1) hosts Texas Southern at 7 p.m. Saturday.