About two weeks ago, Texas A&M visited Oklahoma State for the last time as a member of the Big 12. The low-scoring game featured an excessive amount of turnovers, 54 total. When the final buzzer rang through the air and the Cowgirls upset the Aggies, OSU had coughed the ball up 28 times and Texas A&M gave away the possession 26 times in 40 minutes of play.
After the game Texas A&M coach Gary Blair had some interesting thoughts about the women's game and the overall lack of ball handling skills. He was quick to point out the detriment turnovers have on obtaining retaining fans - both in the stadium and on TV.
"It's not good for the women's game turning it over that much," Blair said. "That's why our attendance is down all over - ball handling skills, okay. The worst thing women do in general is pass the ball. It's the worst thing we do."
Sharane Campbell felt responsible for the outcome of Bedlam Part 1 on Jan. 14 in Stillwater. The Cowgirls won that meeting in come-from-behind fashion after Jenni Bryan drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with 28 seconds to play.
"Cried the whole way back," Campbell said of her first trip to Gallagher-Iba Arena and the first OSU win in the series since 2008.
You see, Campbell was defending Bryan when the basket swished through the net and gave the Pokes the victory.
"Well, after that game I felt responsible for that," Campbell said. "The person I was guarding hit the three. We went over that play, we said no threes when we came out of the huddle and my girl hit the three."
Campbell's memory of the end of the game was vivid and tinged with the voice of a player who wished she could have the moment back and determined to not recreate the scene again - or at least not with the same outcome for the Sooners.
Last season, Brittany Chambers emerged as a rising star for the Kansas State Wildcats. She led the team in scoring, putting up 514 points. She led the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game with 2.8 as she finished with 88 long-range swishes (of 238 attempts). She started all 32 games and came away with 84 assists and 38 steals. Her successful sophomore season led to many accolades for her work on and off the court. Chambers was a unanimous first-team all-Big 12 selection for her work on the court complimented with academic all-Big 12 honors for her work in the classroom. She was even selected to the preseason all-Big 12 team on the honorable mention list, along with fellow 'Cat Jalana Childs.
There have been highs on the season - a full 40-minute game against Northwestern Dec. 19 resulted in a season-high 29 points. Chambers was hot from the outside, sinking 8-of-14 3-point attempts to finish with a .500 field goal percentage (9-of-18). Saturday in Stillwater, Chambers matched that benchmark of the 2011-12 campaign again, finishing with 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 10 rebounds.
But there have been a few lows for the junior, too.
Coach Gary Blair's final appearance at Gallagher-Iba Arena, a building Blair had lost in but once before, went down to the wire for the Texas A&M Aggies.
After digging themselves into a 10-point deficit early in the second half, the defending national champions crawled back into the game one shot, one steal, one turnover at a time. A&M tied it up at 36 all with 11:54 to play with a layup by Kelsey Assarian, Blair's "linebacker". From that point, the game was back and forth down to the final seconds. With 44 seconds to play and the Cowgirls up by two, Oklahoma State's own "linebacker", Lindsey Keller, had the inbounds play bounce off her chest and give OSU their 28th and final turnover of the night.
"When we ran the inbounds play on the press break and we threw it to Lindsey and it went off her chest and went out of bounds, I thought we were in trouble," OSU coach Jim Littell said. "But there's just no quit to them."
Life is different on the road. Just ask Sherri Coale.
On Saturday after their shortest road trip of the season, Coale's agitation at losing to the Cowgirls was more than evident when addressing the media. She fielded a question about taking this loss harder than others this season, and she was quick to ask when anyone in the room had even seen an OU defeat in person. Because, really, there was only one previous loss this season in the state of Oklahoma.
"Have you seen us after any of our other losses?" Coale responded. "I'm just curious, because I think one was in Nashville, one was in Fresno ... so... what are you comparing it to? We want to win every game we play and we're not ok with losing. Ever. We'll be alright. We'll show up on Tuesday and play Kansas State, I promise you."
She has a point there.
Bedlam rivalries split households all across Oklahoma. The Bryan household is perhaps not much different than many others dotted across the landscape of the state when it comes down to OU versus OSU.
But for the Bryans, Bedlam goes far beyond fandom.
In November, the Oklahoma State University family lost four souls in a plane crash. The day the news broke, the OSU football team saw their unblemished record tarnished in Ames, Iowa as the Cyclones handed the Cowboys a double-overtime loss. That day, some were upset that the perfect season was no longer attainable. But others were faced with the knowledge that life would never be the same.
Some thought that the news of the crash should be no excuse for a poor performance on the football field, with a few people downplaying the significance that a loss of two women's basketball coaches would have on not only football, but the athletic department and Stillwater community as a whole. But others knew that the tight-knit OSU family would be affected immesurably.
The imprint Kurt Budke, Miranda Serna and the Brandstetters made went far beyond the basketball court. The Budke family was present last night as OSU narrowly defeated the Stanford Cardinal in a 41-38 overtime win in the Fiesta Bowl. And the Budke family was present on the stage when Mike Gundy was presented the trophy, only to hand over the golden football to Kurt's widow, Shelley.
"I want to dedicate this win to the four victims of the plane crash," Gundy said to the sea of orange. "It meant so much to the Oklahoma State people and to our team and for their families. The players wanted to do it."
In Oklahoma, football is big. Really, really big. But sometimes life - and family - is even bigger. Remember the 4.
New York City - In the opener of the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden, Baylor defeated St. John's in a game that was a lot closer than what the final score hints. More details following the jump.
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