Another women's Bedlam basketball game, another blowout.
Similar to the last 11 encounters, last Saturday's meeting between the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State University teams ended with the Cowgirls' resounding 82-63 victory in front of the largest crowd (13,611) ever to witness a women's sporting event in Oklahoma.
It was the first-ever Bedlam meeting where both teams " No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 25 OSU " entered the contest nationally ranked. And by the time the Gallagher-Iba crowd poured onto the floor in celebration, it might have seemed as if the pollsters somehow had gotten their numbers reversed.
VALIDATION
What was supposed to be another Sooner win instead turned into a day of vindication and validation for coach Kurt Budke's upstart OSU program. The 19-point demolition of their old nemesis not only improved the Cowgirls to 14-1, but sent a message to the rest of the Big 12 Conference that they are legitimate contenders.
"To go from where we started to where it was tonight, this is a night that I'll never forget as a coach," Budke said. "It's a night that our players will never forget as players and it's a night that our fans will never forget. This is the kind of win that has a chance to help a program take the next step."
Budke might do well to remember: To beat the monster is one thing; to taunt it is only asking for trouble. "Jay C. Upchurch
