No. 19 OSU women win

November 19, 2008 12:51 am

— STILLWATER (AP) — There was obvious disappointment for No. 19 Oklahoma State after losing its season opener against then-No. 8 Duke.
Despite routing McNeese State 89-56 on Tuesday night, the Cowgirls’ morale wasn’t much improved and coach Kurt Budke said he wasn’t satisfied.
“I didn’t think we were very good tonight,” Budke said. “I thought they outcoached us and outperformed us. Our intensity is not very good right now. Defensively, we’re not very good right now.”
Still, the Cowgirls have Andrea Riley, and on many nights, that is enough. Riley had 22 points and eight assists, helping Oklahoma State (1-1) overcome a sluggish start.
The Cowgirls fell behind 7-2 early but grabbed a 38-26 lead at halftime and then pulled away by shooting 61 percent in the second half.
Riley, a preseason All-America selection, scored six straight points at the start of the second half and McNeese State came no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
“To me and everybody else in the locker room, it’s not really how you want to start out in your home opener,” Riley said. “I guess it was the nerves or something had to get to us. Tonight was just kind of a struggle for us.”

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