Oklahoma State University Athletics
Women's Hoops Defeats Cairns, 91-78
May 17, 2000 | Cowgirl Basketball
May 17, 2000
CAIRNS, Queensland -- Oklahoma State's Cowgirl basketball team defeated the Cairns Dolphins, 91-78, here Wednesday night in the final game of its Australian tour. The Cowgirls finished the trip with a 4-1 record.
OSU freshman Shelby Hutchens scored a game-high 19 points, including 14 in the first half. Junior Toya Releford added 16, while senior Jennifer Crow scored 15 points off the bench. Sophomore Jessica Bates added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Oklahoma State trailed by as many as four points in the first half, and the game was tied at 24-24 with 7:56 remaining in the first period. The Cowgirls had their biggest margin of the half at 10 with 3.1 seconds remaining, but the Dolphins scored at the buzzer after the clock failed to start when the ball was inbounded. The clock didn't start until the dribbler had gone from her own baseline to midcourt.
OSU took its biggest lead of the game at the 14:45 mark of the second period when Releford hit a 10-foot jumper to put the Cowgirls ahead, 59-47.
Hutchens finished with nine rebounds, while Crow had eight. The Cowgirls outrebounded Cairns, 54-38, and was called for 24 fouls compared to 19 called on the home team. Point guard Chantoya Hawkins had a game-high seven assists, while Jessica Spinner had a game-high four steals.
For the tour, four Cowgirls averaged double figures, led by Crow's 14 points per game. Bates averaged 13.2 points and 9.6 boards per contest, while Releford averaged 11.8 ppg and Hutchens 10 points per game. Hawkins led the team with 20 assists, while Spinner had a team-high 11 steals in five games. As a team, the Cowgirls shot 45.4 percent from the floor, and outrebounded the opponents by an average of 13.8 boards per game.
The travel party will visit the Great Barrier Reef on Thursday before returning to the States on Friday.
