Florida St.-Oklahoma St. Preview

3/23/2008 10:55 AM

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
STATS Editor

Oklahoma State and Florida State will both be looking to reach the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament for just the second time Monday when they meet in a second-round matchup at the New Orleans Regional in Des Moines, Iowa.

The third-seeded Cowgirls (26-7) are trying to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 1991. Oklahoma State earned its first NCAA tourney win since 1996 on Saturday, but was sloppy in matching a season high with 21 turnovers in an 85-73 first-round win over East Tennessee State.

"I don't think we played well and did just the things to get us a win," said Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke, whose team went 0-16 in the Big 12 in his first season with the Cowgirls two years ago. "This tournament is about surviving and advancing and that's what we accomplished."

Florida State (19-13) is seeking its second straight regional semifinal trip after advancing that far last season for the first time. The 11th-seeded Seminoles are making their fourth consecutive appearance in the tournament, but their inclusion was a bit of a surprise for a team that had not beaten another team in the field.

They picked the right time to break that drought with a 60-49 win over No. 3 seed Ohio State in the first round Saturday. Tanae Davis-Cain scored 27 points and Maya Freshour had 14 rebounds to help the Seminoles to a 49-35 edge on the glass.

"We came in with the mind-set that we were going to take this game away from them and show the world that we deserve to be in the tournament and that's what we did," Seminoles center Jacinta Monroe said.

Davis-Cain may match up with Oklahoma State star guard Andrea Riley, who scored 26 points to lead the Cowgirls on Saturday. Riley, however, had a season-high nine turnovers.

"I thought we came out a bit relaxed and it wasn't the best that we could play," Riley said. "We need to focus on our offense and being strong with the ball."

Oklahoma State got a strong effort from Maria Cordero, who had a season-high 23 points and nine rebounds. Cordero failed to score in 21 minutes in her last game, a 64-59 loss to Texas in the Big 12 tournament championship on March 15.

"I thought Maria was outstanding, I thought everybody else was just OK," Budke said. "I know this much, if we don't play better, we won't be here very long."

The 6-foot-3 Cordero will likely match up with Monroe. The Seminoles' 6-4 center had nine rebounds Saturday after averaging just 3.6 over her previous seven games.

The Seminoles have met the Cowgirls only once, winning 72-52 on Jan. 3, 1983.