Oklahoma State Cowgirls
Overall Rank: #38
Conference Rank: #4 Big 12
Oklahoma State Team Page
Oklahoma State continued its run of being a very consistent program in recent years with another 20-win season under the direction of head coach Jim Littell. The Cowgirls have evolved into a pretty difficult team to deal with at home in Stillwater as Oklahoma State was 16-4 in the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena, which included a win over Texas. But it was a bit of a rocky offseason with the departure of assistant coach Richard Henderson and four players leaving the program. This season will be a great test of Oklahoma State’s ability to reload on the fly.
2014-15 Record: 22-12, 9-9
2014-15 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Jim Littell
Coach Record: 89-44 at Oklahoma State, 645-125 overall
Strengths:
Experience in the backcourt with Brittney Martin and Roddricka Patton will set the tone for the direction of the upcoming season for the Cowgirls. Martin is the leading returning scorer, averaging 13.4 points per game. Defensively, Martin led the team in rebounding with 8.8 per game and she collected 2.4 steals as well. As a team, Oklahoma State should be strong once again as they held opponents to 56.6 points per game and controlled the glass with a rebounding margin of plus 6.3 per game.
Weaknesses:
There will need to be more consistency at the offensive end of the court. The Cowgirl finished in the bottom half of the league in scoring. Two key points of emphasis that will address these issues will be improvement at the foul line since Oklahoma State shot just 65 percent from the free throw line. If the Cowgirls can even bump that percentage up to 70 percent that will take pressure off of them to be nearly perfect at the defensive end of the court. Also, the ability to be more explosive from behind the three-point arc will go a long way toward keeping opposing defenses honest.
Final Projection:
Oklahoma State will have time to come together and develop team chemistry as the toughest part of the non-conference schedule won’t happen until just before the end of December. Visits from Washington State and North Carolina highlight the non-conference slate and both games are very winnable for the Cowgirls. Baylor kicks off the Big 12 schedule on December 30th. Texas and Oklahoma highlight the first half of the Big 12 slate with visits to Gallagher-Iba-Arena in the month of January. A great result for these three games will be winning two of three against the Bears, Longhorns and Sooners. The back half of the conference schedule is loaded with road games so it will be critical for the senior guard duo of Martin and Patton to lead this team to the finish line heading into March. Look for the Cowgirls to hover around 20 wins and be in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid once again.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Brittney Martin, Senior, Guard, 13.4 points per game
Roddricka Patton, Senior, Guard, 0.9 points per game
LaTashia Jones, Freshman, Forward, DNP last season
Mandy Coleman, Sophomore, Forward, 2.6 points per game
Kaylee Jensen, Sophomore, Center, 5.1 points per game
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 64.3 (165th in nation, 7th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 56.6 (27, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 41.8 (81,5)
Field-Goal Defense: 37.3 (53.4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 4.0 (21,2)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.1 (47,2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 65.0 (291,9)
Rebound Margin: 6.3 (32,3)
Assists Per Game: 14.8 (67, 4)
Turnovers Per Game: 14.0 (45, 3)
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