by STILLWATER,Okla.—Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team officially started the Jacie Hoyt Era on Monday night with a 95-63 win over UTRGV in front of 1,517 fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowgirls got out of the gate quickly, hitting five of seven shots early in the first to grab a 10-4 lead with six of those coming from fifth year Claire Chastain.
OSU extended the lead to double figures for the first time on a pair of free throws from fifth year Terryn Milton at 18-8 with less than two minutes left in the quarter.
Chastain and Milton combined to score 16 of the Cowgirls’ 20 points in the frame as OSU led the Vaqueros by eight.
UTRGV opened with the first four of the second quarter to get within three at 20-17 before Chastain answered with an old-fashioned 3-point play to move the advantage back to six.
Junior Lexy Keys (Cherokee) added five points in a row to push the margin to 28-17 90 seconds into the quarter.
Defensively, OSU held UTRGV to a 3-of-14 start and a 7-of-24 effort for the quarter on its way to a 42-31 lead.
In the half, Chastain and Milton combined for 23 points while making nine of their 11 shots from the floor.
OSU shot 47 percent from the floor through the first 20 minutes before finishing the contest at 50.7 percent.
The two teams went back and forth through the first four minutes of the third quarter before the Cowgirls used a 9-0 burst, including five consecutive points from junior Lior Garzon, to extend to a 63-44 lead with two minutes left in the period.
Garzon scored eight points in the quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, to become the fourth Cowgirl to reach double figures on the night.
OSU took a 72-49 lead into the fourth after its 30-point outburst in the third, which included a 12-of-19 effort from the floor.
Garzon continued her offensive display in the fourth, hitting three more 3-pointers to finish with 17 of her game-high 19 in the second half. She was one of five players in double figures on the night.
Chastain finished with 15, Milton had 14, Keys added 13 and junior Taylen Collins added a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds.\
NOTES: Keys reached her 500th career point in the game.
