South Dakota State and Oklahoma State will meet in the first round of the NCAA Womens Tournament in Storrs, Connecticut, on Saturday afternoon. It will be the second time ever that Jackrabbits and Cowgirls will meet and the first time since 2004, so heres what you need to know about the OSU program.
The 2024-25 season has been one to remember so far for OSU. The Cowgirls were picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 Conference and ended up coming in third. They won a program-record 14 games in Big 12 play and are 25-6 overall. The 25 wins are the most since the 2013-14 season and the Cowgirls went to the Sweet 16 that season. OSU right now sits at No. 17 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
This is the 17th time that the Cowgirls have made the NCAA Tournament. They have a record of 12-17 all-time in the Big Dance. The furthest OSU has gone in the tournament is the Sweet 16, which it has done three times.
OSU head coach Jacie Hoyt is familiar with the Jackrabbits. Shes in her third season as the leader of the Cowgirls, but began her head coaching career at Kansas City in 2017. In the first three seasons with her as head coach of the Roos they played in the Western Athletic Conference.
In 2020 the Roos made the move to the Summit League. Hoyt would coach the Roos for another two seasons before moving to Stillwater. In her time at Kansas City she went 81-65 overall. In the two seasons in the Summit League with her at the helm, the Roos went 33-21 overall and 19-14 in conference play. The Roos never beat SDSU under Hoyt.
In her first year at OSU, Hoyt led the Cowgirls to 21 wins after they had won just nine the previous season. OSU went to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and lost 62-61 to Miami in the first round. Last season the Cowgirls went 14-16 overall and missed the postseason.
OSU had three players that earned All-Conference honors by the Big 12 this season.
Sophomore guard Stailee Heard was the lone Cowgirl that was named to the First Team. She leads OSU in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game and that was 11th in the Big 12. Heard also leads the Cowgirls in rebounds at 7.8 per game, which is fourth in the Big 12.
Senior guard Anna Gret Asi was on the All-Big 12 Third Team. The Estonia native is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points per game. She makes 2.25 threes per game, which is 12th in the conference and also is 12th in the Big 12 in assist-turnover ratio at 1.60. Asi was named the USBWA National Player of the Week on Feb. 11 after making eight 3-pointers in a game against Kansas State.
Micah Gray was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Shes a junior transfer from Seton Hall and is the Cowgirls second-leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game. Her 2.61 threes per game rank 24th in the country.
The Cowgirls are 31st in the country in scoring offense, averaging 76.7 points per game. On the other end they give up 60 points per game, which is 82nd in Division I. OSU shoots 49.4% from the field, which is 47th in the country, and shoots 33.8% from three, which is 78th. The Cowgirls 8.1 3-pointers per game is 36th in the country.
OSU is 22nd in rebounds per game at 40.9. The Cowgirls average 15 turnovers per game, which is tied for 115th. They force 16.5 turnovers per game, which is tied for 152nd in the country.
Tip off between the No. 7 seeded Cowgirls and No. 10 seeded Jackrabbits is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Central time on Saturday. You can watch the game on ESPN2. The winner will play either No. 2 UConn or No. 15 Arkansas State on Monday.
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