By Clay Horning
Go ahead, pick your storyline.
The first round of women's basketball Bedlam begins at 2 p.m. today at Gallagher-Iba Arena and the implications are vast for both teams for many reasons.
n Today's winner will end the day in no worse than second place in the Big 12 Conference behind No. 4 Nebraska (20-0, 7-0).
n Both teams are coming off losses, both of them disheartening in their own way. No. 10 Oklahoma State (18-4, 6-2) was at Nebraska Wednesday with the top spot in the conference at stake. The Cowgirls were down 20 points before they scored 10 points and fell 88-67 having never been in the game. Meanwhile, the 13th-ranked Sooners (15-6, 5-3) suffered their worst home-court loss in eight years, falling 75-57 to 17th-ranked Texas.
n Hello, it's Bedlam.
Always a geographic rivalry, the Cowgirls' ascendancy has been clear since Kurt Budke took over the program. Two years ago, OSU announced its new direction with an 82-63 Bedlam victory in Stillwater, but this remains the first season in years and years the Cowgirls have seemingly stood in front of the Sooners, taking the rivalry beyond bragging rights and into things that actually matter, like Big 12 Conference tournament and NCAA Tournament seedings.
Of course, should OU come out on top today, it will be right back in front of its in-state rival.
The Sooners appear to embrace the challenge and, coming off an embarrassing defeat to Texas, seem to like the idea of tackling such a conceivably difficult game.
"Every game is important, but when it gets down to Bedlam and how it is now, I feel it's a key game," team captain Amanda Thompson said. "They're doing well, they're doing great ... We're in a position to put people on their heels."
Sooner coach Sherri Coale is of two minds.
"Selfishly," she said, "you'd like for everybody in your league not to be very good, you know?"
But she likes what a more even rivalry does for the game.
"It's fantastic for basketball," she said. "I thin it's fantastic for recruiting and for growing the Big 12 Conference. It's really a positive thing for the game."
Point guard Danielle Robinson likes the challenge the Cowgirls are bound to present, precisely because overcoming it could really push OU forward.
"February could be the best month for us or it could be the worst month for us," she said. "It's all about effort. All the games that we've lost have been about effort. If you watched the film (of the Texas game) it just looked like we weren't there ...
"This game's going to give us momentum for the rest of February depending on what we do with the opportunity."
Coale knows what she wants to see.
"Us competing, playing hard together as a unit," she said. "It's simple. Intensity. Moving without the ball ... fundamental things."
Those things didn't come easy just three days ago against Texas.
But, said Robinson, "We have another opportunity."
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
