AUSTIN, Texas —
Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team came up just short in a 78-69 battle against Texas on Saturday night in front of 6,123 fans inside the Moody Center.
After the two teams traded baskets to open the scoring, Texas reeled off a 9-0 run over the next 90 seconds to lead, 11-2, and force an OSU timeout. The Cowgirls answered with an 8-0 run fueled by a pair of treys from Lior Garzon to get within one.
Naomie Alnatas tied the game at 13 apiece on a 3-pointer at the five-minute mark before the Longhorns answered with the next seven points.
Texas shot 60 percent in the frame to lead, 26-18, after 10 minutes.
Garzon opened the second frame with back-to-back 3-pointers from Garzon to cut the margin to 26-24. The Longhorns would reel off a 9-0 run to stretch the margin back to 35-24 with five and a half minutes to go.
Both teams hit six of their final eight shots in the frame, resulting in a 41-36 Longhorn lead. OSU would shoot 60 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, while Texas hit at a 58 percent clip.
After a lengthy delay due to clock issues, the third quarter got underway. Texas scored eight of the first 11 in the quarter to push the margin to double digits at 49-39.
Alnatas knocked down a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to cut the OSU deficit to 58-52 heading into the final period.
Texas opened with the first five points of the quarter, causing OSU to take a timeout at the 7:24 mark and trailing, 63-52.
After the timeout, OSU got back-to-back treys from Alnatas and Lexy Keys to get within five. The Cowgirls would get within four before Texas scored the game’s next seven points to lead, 74-63.
Garzon scored a game-high 21 points behind a 5-of-8 effort from beyond the arc. Alnatas scored 14 and Keys added 13.