Gray, Asi help Cowgirls turn away Iowa State

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team opened Big 12 play on Saturday afternoon with an 81-75 win over Iowa State in front of 3,003 fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowgirls improved to 11-1 on the year, while Iowa State dipped to 9-5.

Anna Gret Asi got OSU going early offensively, burying a pair of 3-pointers to give OSU an 8-2 lead two minutes into the contest.

The Cowgirls held the Cyclones without a field goal until the 4:50 mark and got a Micah Gray trey to lead, 13-4, before Iowa State scored the next five.

OSU would go without a field goal the final three minutes of the frame, but would take a 22-15 lead into the second.

Stacie Jones knocked down a jumper at the seven-minute mark to push the Cowgirl lead to double digits at 30-20 before Alexia Smith added a jumper and Gray knocked down another trey to make it a 9-0 run over 90 seconds and a 15-point lead.

OSU would hit seven of its first eight shots from the floor during the first five minutes to build its lead.

The Cowgirls would shoot 56 (9-16) percent from the floor in the period to take a 41-29 lead at the intermission.

Asi scored 12 points in the half to lead all scorers.

OSU scored seven of the first nine points to open the third quarter, pushing the lead back to 17 at 48-31.

The Cyclones used a quick 6-0 to get within 11 before Jadyn Wooten would bury a trey to give OSU a 57-43 lead with four minutes to go. Iowa State would hit eight of its first 11 shots (73 percent) and got a pair of free throws at the 2:27 mark to cut the margin to 59-50. A minute later, the Cyclones would knock down a pair of jumpers to trim the lead to five.

Gray halted the 8-0 run with a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left in the quarter. However, Iowa State would bury a 3-pointer from the corner to trail 61-57 heading to the final period.