Cowgirls Get Back on Track vs TCU

Vivian Gray stepped up to the free throw line and calmly knocked down a pair of shots.

Those shots put Texas Christian out of reach of the Oklahoma State Cowgirl basketball team, which won its home opener in Big 12 play on Sunday 75-71.

Those free throws capped off an 11-of-13 day from the stripe for Gray, whose aggressiveness was a microcosm of a physical, well-played game. She had a game-high 27.

“We work on free throws a lot in practice and we run if we don’t make them,” Gray said. “So it’s kind of routine. I didn’t want to miss two.”

Teammate Braxtin Miller completed Gray’s thoughts.

“She’s obviously a very great free throw shooter so she’s probably comfortable,” Miller said.

The Cowgirls needed solid free throw shooting down the stretch because TCU was able to slowly erase what was an 18-point lead with 5:16 left in the second quarter.

TCU (11-2 overall, 1-1 Big 12) leaned on Senior center Jordan Moore offensively. Moore scored 26 on 11-of-17 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Coach Jim Littell said he might have doubled Moore in hindsight, but he was happy with how his team didn’t let any other player hurt them.

“That was a tough assignment for our bigs guarding her,” Littell said.

Freshman Kassidy De Lapp started and primarily had that job. She only had 4 rebounds, but had a critical tipped pass that gave the Cowgirls the ball back with 15 seconds left.

Littell said when De Lapp came into the program, Moore was one of the players he used to try to motivate her.

“I told Kassidy De Lapp, ‘That’s somebody that you can become,’” Littell said.

OSU (10-3, 1-1) has struggled to find a third scorer to supplement Miller and Gray. Ja’Mee Asberry, another freshman, stepped into that role when she got the start at point guard.

Asberry showed her inexperience against Big 12 competition, for she had 7 turnovers, including one during TCU’s late run to pull within 2. However, she was aggressive and got into the lane; she scored 14 and had 4 assists.

“She made some nice plays,” Littell said. “She’s going to be a nice player for us.

“Sometimes in a game like that where it gets tight, one or two plays magnify how you play and I told her with our group just a few minutes ago, ‘you need to leave the gym feeling good about the way you played.’”

Miller said it will be tough for Asberry because she is playing point guard, which is different from Miller because she was able to rely on Loryn Goodwin to do most of the ball-handling last season.

She also said she would tell her to stay calm in the high-pressure moments of conference games.

“I can only imagine how tough it is trying to handle all the pressure while learning how everyone plays,” Miller said. “At the end of the day I’d just say she had a great game.”

Although TCU’s high-pressure defense caused problems for the Cowgirls, it also allowed for back-door cuts. Gray and Miller both used smart cuts to get to the rim.

Gray said sometimes the coaches call the plays, but it is also up to the players to recognize it.

“Throughout the game we just kind of realized that was open and we got it a lot,” Gray said.