Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Prepare For Their Own Battle In Seattle
June 09, 2003 | Cowgirl Basketball
LAST TIME Jennifer Crow scored a career-high 28 points and Tari Cummings added 23 as the Cowgirls defeated Long Beach State, 93-61, Sunday afternoon. Crow scored her 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the floor, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. Cummings pulled down 10 rebounds for her third-straight double-double game. LBSU took an early 10-0 lead just 2-1/2 minutes into the game as center Rhonda Smith scored the first four points of the game. OSU took a timeout, and went on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to tie the game at 12-12.
The Cowgirls trailed only once more in the game, when two free throws by Kesha Wade put LBSU up, 22-21. OSU took the lead once again with 7:26 remaining on a three-pointer by freshman Chantoya Hawkins, and built up a 14-point lead at halftime.
"Excluding the first two minutes, that may have been as well as we've played this season," said Coach Dick Halterman. "There are a lot of things you need to look at. One is that we pushed the ball and did things in transition better than we have all year long. That should be a strength of this team."
The Cowgirls scored 13 points off the fast break, compared to just four for the 49ers. OSU also scored 40 points off 26 LBSU turnovers, compared to just nine points off turnovers for LBSU.
OSU also played well on defense, allowing LBSU to shoot just 36.8 percent. The most important aspect of the defense, was shutting down the 6-8 Smith. "Devon (Magness) and (Jessica) Bates came off the bench and did a good job on the big kid (Smith)," said Halterman. "She's a pretty good player, and she's somebody you've got to key on all the time." Smith, who averages 22.2 points per game, was held to just 15 points, and only four in the second half.
Probable Starters
Pos # Name Ht. GP-GS PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
F 11 Tari Cummings 5-11 8-7 16.5 9.1 1.1 .448 .727
F 22 Kara Faulk 5-11 8-8 8.6 8.1 1.0 .511 .657
G 20 Shelby Hutchens 5-10 8-6 3.3 1.6 0.8 .231 .750
G 32 Chantoya Hawkins 5-5 8-6 9.8 2.3 2.3 .355 .500
G 34 Jennifer Crow 5-9 8-8 20.5 6.6 4.9 .420 .912
COMING UP Oklahoma State will take 11 days off before playing the West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday, Dec. 31, at 11 a.m. CST in Charleston, W. Va. The Cowgirls will leave on Wednesday, Dec. 29 and return (hopefully) on New Year's Eve evening.
COACH DICK HALTERMAN Dick Halterman is entering his 17th season as the head coach for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, and brings with him a 292-190 career mark at OSU. Halterman has guided the Cowgirls to eight postseason appearances in the last 11 years, including seven NCAA Tournament appearances (last in 1996) and one Women's NIT appearance (1998). Under Halterman, 13 Cowgirls have been named first-team all-conference, while 27 student-athletes have achieved first-team academic all-conference status. He is a two-time conference Coach of the Year, and was the District V Coach of the Year in 1991. Halterman has taken two conference All-Star teams abroad, including this past August, when he led the Big 12 All-Stars on a tour of Finland and Sweden. That team finished with a 5-1 record.
HALTERMAN ON RADIO/TV During the 1999-2000 season, fans can catch up with the Cowgirl head coach on both the radio and television. The Coach Halterman Radio Show will be broadcast every Monday evening from 5:30 - 6 p.m. on KGFY-105.5 FM in Stillwater.
The Coach Halterman Television Show will be broadcast on Tuesday's at 7 p.m. on KWEM-TV 31 in Stillwater, which is Channel 3 on Peak Cablevision. Casey Kendrick, program manager at KWEM, will host both the radio and television shows.
COWGIRL BASKETBALL ON THE AIR Once again during the 1999-2000 season, the Oklahoma State women's basketball games will be broadcast live on KGFY-105.5 FM in Stillwater, part of Stillwater Radio. Kevin Gum, in his 10th season with the Cowgirl broadcast, will handle play-by-play duties, while Casey Kendrick, in his fifth season on the air, will provide color analysis. Fans outside the Stillwater broadcast range will be able to listen to the broadcasts via the internet at www.okstate.com. Gum and Kendrick will be on the air 30 minutes prior to tipoff with pregame analysis, as well as interviews with Coach Halterman and various Cowgirl players.
CROW BACK FOR FINAL SEASON Cowgirl Jennifer Crow is back for her final season in a Cowgirl uniform, and is looking to move up several OSU career statistical charts. She became the 14th player in school history to record 1,000 points in a career, and she currently ranks seventh on the all-time points scored list with 1,329. Jennifer needs 53 points to move past Stacy Coffey for sixth (1,381). She already holds the school record for three-pointers made (159) and attempted (422) in a career.
Jennifer was named third-team All-Big 12 last season, and was honored as a second-team Academic All-American her junior year. She ranks ninth in career scoring average at 14.1 ppg, fifth in free-throw percentage at 81.3 percent, and fifth in three-point shooting at 37.7 percent. Here is a look at where Jennifer ranks on several of the school's career statistical charts.
Category Crow's stats needs to surpass
Points 7th with 1,329 53 Stacy Coffey (with 1,381)
Rebounds 16th with 426 44 Yogi York (with 469)
Assists 12th with 205 8 Rae Rippetoe (with 212)
Steals 8th with 145 13 Clinette Jordan (with 157)
Minutes 8th with 2,866 11 Yogi York (with 2,873)
Free Throws 2nd with 434 169 Clinette Jordan (with 602)
FT Attempted 3rd with 534 83 Lisa McGill (with 616)
Field Goals 14th with 368 2 Kathy Schulz (with 369)
FG Attempted 11th with 867 15 Althea Cox (with 883)
Games Started 18th with 71 7 Shea Jackson (with 77)
CROW AT THE LINE Senior Jennifer Crow set an OSU school record vs. Lamar when she was successful on 12-of-12 trips to the free-throw line. She broke the previous record of 10-of-10, set by Crista Troester in 1983, and duplicated four times since, the most recent time by Cheri Edwards in 1998. One game later vs. Tulsa, Jennifer broke her own record by connecting on 13-of-13 free throws.
Crow set another school record from the charity stripe by connecting on 30 consecutive free throws. The previous record was 28, set by Jamie Siess in 1987-88. Jennifer made her last three attempts vs. Illinois, then was a perfect 25-of-25 vs. Lamar and Tulsa. She hit her first two vs. Oral Roberts, but then missed her 31st attempt. She is currently shooting 91.2 percent (52-of-57) from the line.
TRIO TAKING CHARGE After eight games this season, Oklahoma State has four players averaging at least 8.5 points per game, and three are averaging more than six rebounds per game. Jennifer Crow leads the team in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game, including a career-high 28 vs. Long Beach State. She is also averaging 6.6 rebounds per contest. Junior Tari Cummings is averaging 16.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, including a career-high 28 points vs. Wichita State. Sophomore Kara Faulk is averaging 8.6 ppg and 8.1 boards per game, while freshman Chantoya Hawkins is averaging 9.8 ppg.
FRESHMEN DUO GETTING PT Freshmen Chantoya Hawkins and Shelby Hutchens have each started six games this season, the most starts by a true freshman since 1993-94, when Cheri Edwards started 28 in her first season as a Cowgirl. The last time at least two true freshmen started at least six games was in 1992-93, when Stacy Coffey, Amy Scales and Yogi York started 32, 32, and 31, respectively.
BIG 12 RANKINGS Through eight games this season, Oklahoma State ranks in the top half of the conference in six statistical categories. The Cowgirls are fourth in the conference in three-pointers per game, averaging 5.38 threes per contest.
Individually, senior Jennifer Crow ranks second in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game, behind Texas' Edwina Brown (22.5) and ahead of Oklahoma's Phylesha Whaley (19.1). Junior Tari Cummings ranks sixth with 16.5 ppg. Cummings is fifth in rebounding, averaging 9.1 rpg, while sophomore Kara Faulk is 13th, averaging 8.1 boards per contest. Faulk is fourth in the league in offensive rebounds with 4.0 per game, while Cummings is fifth in defensive rebounds with 5.9 per contest. Crow is sixth in the Big 12 in assists with 4.9 per game, and is second in free-throw shooting, at 91.2 percent. Crow is also sixth in the league in three-pointers made per game at 2.25.
COWGIRLS 78th IN RPI Oklahoma State is ranked 78th in the first Ratings Percentage Index released this season, on Dec. 12. The Cowgirls have a .5667 RPI, tied with North Texas. Texas Tech is the top-ranked OSU opponent in the RPI, ranked fourth. Southwest Missouri State is ranked 16th, while Illinois is 26th.
This weekend's participants in the Seattle Times Classic are ranked as follows: 137. Washington, 167. Idaho, and 197. Portland.
The Cowgirls are 2-1 vs. teams ranked in the top 60 so far this season, and 3-1 vs. the top 100.
Here is a look at all of OSU's opponents this season in the RPI:
4. Texas Tech
41. Baylor
43. Oklahoma
49. Missouri
57. Texas
59. Long Beach State
66. Iowa State
73. Kansas State
95. Texas A&M
96. Northern Iowa
102. Nebraska
113. Wichita State
115. Kansas
143. Colorado
175. West Virginia
193. Tulsa
208. Oral Roberts
281. Lamar
INSIDE THE NUMBERS Here is a statistical comparison between the Seattle Times Classic's opponents ...
OSU Portland Washington Idaho
Overall Record 5-3 4-5 3-5 4-4
Scoring Offense 72.5 59.8 68.3 67.9
Scoring Defense 63.6 60.1 73.4 53.5
Scoring Margin +8.9 -0.3 -5.1 +14.4
Field-Goal Pct. 40.0 38.7 38.1 41.7
Field-Goal Pct. Defense 38.9 37.0 45.0 38.6
Free-Throw Pct. 74.3 66.9 74.5 66.4
Rebound Margin +3.8 -1.0 -1.2 +9.6
Three-Point FG Pct. 32.1 23.8 28.4 36.4
Three-Pointers Per Game 5.4 2.8 5.0 6.0
Turnover Margin +2.3 -2.0 +1.0 -8.3
ABOUT PORTLAND Portland is 4-5 this season, coming off a 56-48 loss to Montana at home. The Pilots defeated Wyoming, San Diego State, Virginia Commonwealth and Cal State-Fullerton. UP is led by senior center Sarah Green, who is averaging 17.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She is also averaging 2.0 blocks per contest. Junior Sharon Rissmiller is averaging 11.0 points per game. Portland is coached by Jim Sollars, who is in his 14th season at UP and has a record of 206-175 at the school. He is 383-257 in 23-plus seasons of coaching.
ABOUT WASHINGTON Washington is 3-5 this season, and coming off an 89-86 loss at Nebraska last week. The Huskies have defeated Southern Miss, Portland and Boise State. UW is led by junior Guard Megan Franza, who is averaging 18.9 points per game. Freshman Loree Payne is averaging 16.4 ppg, while freshman Kellie O'Neill is scoring 9.3 points per contest. Washington is coached by June Daugherty, who is 54-39 in her fourth season at UW, and 177-113 in 10-plus seasons of coaching.
ABOUT IDAHO Idaho is 4-4 this season and coming off a 68-45 win over Washington State on Sunday. The Vandals have defeated Montana State, UNC-Wilmington, and Eastern Washington as well. UI is led by senior forward Alli Nieman, who is averaging 22.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Senior Susan Woolf, is pouring in 14.5 points per contest. Woolf is from Andover, Kan., approximately two hours from Stillwater. The Vandals are coached by Hilary Recknor, who is 20-16 in her second season at Idaho, and 119-88 in seven-plus seasons of coaching.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
* Junior Tari Cummings has five double-doubles in points and rebounds this season, including the last three games. * Senior Jennifer Crow has scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games. * Freshman Chantoya Hawkins has reached double figures in scoring in five of the last six games. * Freshman Shelby Hutchens has scored eight points on three occasions this season, including each of the last two games. * According to the RPI, Oklahoma State has the fourth-toughest schedule in the Big 12 so far this season. Baylor leads the league with the seventh-toughest in the country, followed by Texas Tech (11th), Kansas State (69th) and Oklahoma (74th). OSU's schedule is ranked the 104th toughest in the nation.
