Oklahoma State Cowgirls women's basketball holds off late rally from Kansas State Wildcats

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State junior Taylen Collins had hardly played in the second half, sitting on the bench with four fouls.

But as Kansas State cut the Cowgirls’ 16-point lead to five midway through the fourth quarter, OSU coach Jacie Hoyt sent her versatile forward back in the game.

On OSU’s next possession, Collins grabbed an offensive rebound and got fouled, hitting two free throws to give the Cowgirls enough cushion to hold on for an 82-74 victory over K-State on Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Collins fouled out having played just over five minutes in the Cowgirls’ Bedlam loss at OU last Saturday, but she wasn’t hesitant when Hoyt put her on the floor with a little over four minutes left Wednesday night.

“It’s always a worry for a coach,” Hoyt said. “That’s the million-dollar question, right? Do you play them or not play them? You can either look really stupid or really smart, depending on what happens. But we also have to try things to know.

“So ultimately, we decided to put her on the floor and it paid off.”

Collins had a pair of free throws with 13.6 seconds left as well, ending her night with 16 points and eight rebounds as the Cowgirls (14-6, 4-4 Big 12) avenged an early January loss to the Wildcats (13-8, 2-6).

“I was thinking I needed to go out and play, regardless,” Collins said of her foul trouble. “Just keep it in the past and focus on what was coming.”

Four Cowgirls scored in double-figures, with Naomie Alnatas and Terryn Milton at 17 apiece, each adding seven rebounds and six assists as well. Lior Garzon scored all 11 of her points in the second half.

Here are two more takeaways from the game:

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Scoring at all levels

Offensively, the Cowgirls were finding success from anywhere on the floor.

Alnatas hit five 3-pointers, all in the first half. Most of Milton’s made field goals were mid-range jumpers.

In addition to Collins’ 16 points, center Kassidy De Lapp had eight, both working primarily in the paint.

In all, the Cowgirls shot 47.4% from the floor (27-of-57) and 40.0% from 3-point range (10-of-25), with Alnatas, Garzon and Lexy Keys hitting multiple deep shots.

“We have so many weapons,” Hoyt said. “We have so many 3-point shooters. We’ve got a great post presence. We feel like if we can get a paint touch and kick out for 3s, that’s when we’re at our best. I thought our kids were exceptional at that.”

And the Cowgirls shared the ball well, assisting on 22 of their 27 made baskets. Alnatas and Milton had seven apiece and Claire Chastain added five.

“Our best basketball is whenever we share the ball,” Alnatas said. “Moving it around and finding our nine — a nine is a shot we would make nine times out of 10. So I think we do really good passing up a five or a seven for a good nine.

“It’s been proven that we play our best when we play like that.”

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Student vs. teacher

This wasn’t the first time Hoyt had faced off with Kansas State’s Jeff Mittie — the man who gave Hoyt her first shot as an assistant coach in the Big 12 Conference.

But it was the first time she beat him.

Hoyt had been working as an assistant at Nevada when Mittie hired her as his director of recruiting at K-State in 2014. He promoted her to assistant coach the next year.

Mittie got the best of Hoyt in their first four head-to-head meetings, with three coming while Hoyt was the head coach at Missouri-Kansas City between 2017-22. K-State defeated OSU earlier this month in Manhattan as well.

But Hoyt finally put a tally mark on her side of the ledger.

“I have so much respect for Coach Mittie,” Hoyt said. “He’s a dear friend of mine. I would not be at this podium without him, without the opportunities he gave me, without the things that he taught me.

“So much of who I am as a coach now, I took from him. And not just him, the whole staff. I love that staff very dearly.”

And Mittie knows he’s not finished with Hoyt’s teams, even if this season’s series is done.

“First off, this is not a surprise to me,” Mittie said. “Jacie’s gonna be a good coach for a long, long time. She’s got a bright future ahead of her. She did a fantastic job at Kansas City. She did a fantastic job for me in Manhattan. She’s got a team that I think is very good.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State women's basketball holds off late rally by Kansas State