Just when the problem appeared to be solved, a lack of focus reared its ugly head for the Longhorns.
Texas (11-17, 4-13) dropped its final road game of the season on Saturday against Oklahoma State, 64-58. Despite outperforming the Cowgirls (20-8, 9-8) inside with their dominant post play, the Longhorns couldn’t hold on.
The Longhorns jumped on the Cowgirls early, knocking down shots to open up easy looks for their post players. Texas went on a 10-2 run to take a 26-19 lead, but Oklahoma State finished the first half on an 8-2 run to cut the Texas lead to five points by halftime.
Although the Longhorns gave up the late run going into the second half, their defense looked solid overall as they held the Cowgirls to 36.7 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.
The second half began with more of the same dominance from the Longhorns, who stretched their lead to nine points. Texas shot 41.9 percent from the floor in the first half but the Cowgirls went on a 12-2 run to take a 39-38 lead.
Nneka Enemkpali did her best to keep the Longhorns steady, picking up her 12th double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. After 10 lead changes in the latter part of the second half, Oklahoma State took a 60-55 lead with under a minute to play.
Chassidy Fussell made things interesting by connecting on a three to bring the Longhorns within two points, but Oklahoma State sealed the win with four straight makes from the free-throw line.
Texas again used their post play to tally a sizable lead but lost focus at key points in the game. The Cowgirls capitalized on every Texas mistake, turning 19 Longhorn turnovers into 23 points despite being out-shot by the Longhorns 37.3 to 42.0 percent.
Imani McGee-Stafford compiled 15 points in the game to facilitate the 24-20 scoring advantage in the paint for Texas, but the Longhorns only got 26 points from everyone except Enkempali or McGee-Stafford.
Texas will play its final regular season game before the Big 12 Tournament when it hosts West Virginia on Tuesday night.
Published on March 4, 2013 as "Longhorns fall in last road contest".
