Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Alabama
Cowgirls Top Alabama in OT Thriller
December 21, 2000 | Cowgirl Basketball
Dec. 21, 2000
NASSAU, Bahamas -- Kara Faulk scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in an MVP performance as Oklahoma State defeated previously unbeaten Alabama 58-54 Thursday in the championship game of the Nassau Sunsplash Shootout.
Faulk keyed the Cowgirls' comeback from a four-point deficit with 30 seconds left. She was named the tournament's most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Trisha Skibbe, who had 11 points in the title matchup.
OSU opened the second half on a 9-2 run, with Faulk scoring seven points in that stretch. The Cowgirls led 43-37 with 6:15 to play in regulation, but they suffered a scoring drought over the next four-plus minutes and saw the Crimson Tide score 10 straight points to take a 47-43 lead. Faulk's three-pointer with 29 seconds left cut the OSU deficit to one point, and after an Alabama free throw, Chantoya Hawkins drove the length of the floor and scored with 0.8 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 48.
The Cowgirls, who went just 5-for-17 from the free-throw line in regulation -- the teams combined to shoot 16-for-39 from the stripe in the game -- hit seven of 10 charities in overtime to pull ahead and win. Faulk's three-pointer was OSU's only field goal in the extra period.
Alabama, which came into the game with a 9-0 record, was led in scoring by Shondra Johnson's 18 points.
The Cowgirls (7-3) will return to action Friday, Dec. 29, against West Virginia in a 7 p.m. tipoff at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game will be OSU's first in the new Gallagher-Iba Arena.
