by STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team could not overcome a strong second-half shooting effort from Houston en route to a 65-57 loss in front of 2,112 fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowgirls fell to 12-13 overall and 5-9 in Big 12 play, while the Cougars rose to 13-12 and 4-10.
OSU raced out to an 11-2 lead before Houston answered with a 9-2 run before Stailee Heard closed the first period with a basket to give the Cowgirls a 15-11 lead.
In the second period, OSU would stretch its lead to six at 24-18 with less than four minutes to play before the Cougars would claw back to take a 26-24 lead with 27 seconds left. Heard would once again close the scoring in the quarter with a basket as time expired to knot the score at the break.
The Cougars would score the first four points after the halftime break and led 38-32 before the Cowgirls tied the score at 41 apiece with 2:18 left in the period. Houston would take a 47-44 lead with 10 minutes remaining after shooting 53 percent in the frame.
Houston would extend the margin to nine on two occasions early in the fourth before building a double-digit advantage at 62-51 with two and a half minutes remaining. The Cougars would shoot 44 percent as a team in the final period.
Heard led the Cowgirls with 15 points in the contest, while Anna Gret Asi added 11.
