LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oklahoma State survived blowing most of their leads of 18 and 14 points to beat Princeton 82-68 on Saturday, giving Jacie Hoyt her first March Madness win in her fourth season as coach.
Oklahoma State had lost in the first round in its last two March Madness appearances.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Hoyt said. “It never has been enough for me to just get here. I want to win. I’m grateful for a team that brought me here.”
The eighth-seeded Cowgirls (24-9) were led by Achol Akot with a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds. Jaydyn Wooten had 18 points and 10 assists and Micah Gray added 16 points.
“Our team is just known for when we have good starts, we have good finishes,” Akot said, “so I think just having a good start to March Madness, I expect more down the line.”
The ninth-seeded Tigers (26-4) closed within four in the third quarter, when they outscored the Cowgirls 20-13, and within five early in the fourth. Princeton was led by Madison St. Rose with 17 points. Skye Belker and Ashley Chea had 14 points each while combining to make seven of the Tigers’ eight 3-pointers in the game.
“We’re not really very familiar with the Ivy League. We’ve never played anyone in their league,” Hoyt said. “We decided we just wanted to really bet on ourselves and use our athleticism to be disruptive.”
Oklahoma State was too strong in the fourth, outscoring the Tigers 21-15, including a 9-0 run after the Tigers got to 63-58. The Cowgirls ran off nine straight points to start the fourth to snuff out Princeton’s hopes.
“We took the punch and punched back,” Hoyt said. “I’m very proud of our poise because we haven’t really been in a situation that we were in today this season.”
Princeton remains stuck on just three March Madness wins in program history, the last coming in 2022.
“It’s three years in a row we’ve come up against a Big 12 opponent. There’s a toughness about the Big 12,” Tigers coach Carla Berube said. “You don’t see that length and that strength and that toughness as much in the Ivy League. Maybe we should get some Big 12 opponents on our nonconference schedule.”
The Tigers trailed by 18 points in the second quarter after the Cowgirls had runs of 14-0 and 8-0 to lead 48-33 at halftime.
Up next
Oklahoma State is into the second round for the first time since 2021, two years before Hoyt took over.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness