by STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team ran its Big 12 record to 2-0 on the year with a 78-73 victory over West Virginia on Friday night inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Mountaineers (5-2 overall, 0-2 Big 12) opened with eight of the game’s first 10 points before the Cowgirls (5-2 overall, 2-0 Big 12) countered with a 9-0 run to lead, 11-8. OSU would take a 21-16 lead at the break.
Both teams slowed offensively in the second, combining to hit just four of their 17 field-goal attempts through the first five and a half minutes of the period. OSU used a quick 4-0 run to extend to a 29-20 advantage, forcing a WVU timeout with 3:35 left in the half. Junior Ja’Mee Asberry drilled a trey with two minutes left to give OSU a double-digit advantage for the first time at 32-22.
OSU would take a 35-28 lead into the halftime locker room after shooting 45 percent from the floor.
In the third, the Mountaineers cut the deficit to three before OSU used a 5-0 run to move back in front, 44-36. Sophomore Lauren Fields drilled a trey from the corner to extend the margin to 11 and force a WVU timeout with 4:39 remaining in the quarter. The Mountaineers used a 7-0 run to get within four with a minute left before OSU answered with the final five to lead 58-49 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Three minutes into the fourth, WVU hit back-to-back treys to get within five.
Freshman Lexy Keys (Cherokee) delivered eight of her 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the contest in the first half of the quarter to stave off WVU and keep OSU in front, 70-62, with five minutes remaining.
However, WVU used a 7-0 run to get within three at 74-71 with two minutes remaining.
Keys and the Cowgirls proved too much as she finished with 13 in the quarter and hit all four of her attempts from beyond the arc in the contest.
Senior Natasha Mack finished with a game-high 19 points to go with five rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals. Asberry finished with 15 of her own, while junior Kassidy De Lapp hit all five of her shots from the floor to finish with 10 points.
