Cowgirl Basketball Beats Idaho

The newcomers were the story for Oklahoma State women’s basketball on Tuesday night to open the 2019-2020 season in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

At halftime, three of the top four scorers were newcomers and the defense played well to get the Pokes a 62-47 win over the Vandals.

Junior college transfer Natasha Mack led OSU (1-0) with 11 points and also grabbed an impressive 14 rebounds in a dominant post display. Mack said she was pleased with her debut.

“Honestly, it felt amazing,” Mack said. “Just being out there with my team, my first double-double, my first official game; this is a big move for me.”

Mack was also able to impact the game defensively with her 4 blocks and a steal while only committing a pair of fouls. She took care of the ball offensively and did not have a turnover in her 27 minutes of play.

Freshman Lauren Fields was another of the debut standouts for the Cowgirls, especially with her ability to get to the free throw line and create for the offense off the dribble. Fields was fouled five times and took four trips to the charity stripe, where she was a perfect 8-for-8.

Fields said it was her mindset going into the game to try to get into the paint.

“We weren’t hitting shots so I thought a place where we’re a good team at is the free-throw line so getting to the free-throw line was an aspect that I wanted to focus on going into the game,” Fields said.

Coach Jim Littell said he knew Fields was capable of making an impact off the dribble and was pleased with the energy she brought to the game.

“She’s got the ability to get in the paint and make plays and she’s an excellent free-throw shooter,” Littell said. “We need somebody, who can make shots, but we need somebody that can create off the dribble as well and I thought she did a great job at that.”

OSU’s defense held Idaho to 27 points thru the first three quarters and turned defense into offense in scoring 14 points off of Idaho turnovers.

Returning All-American Cowgirl Vivian Gray scored 10 points and by her lofty standards struggled, shooting just 3-for-15 from the field.

The Cowgirls as a team shot 83 percent from the line.