(Basketball News - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sometimes games are grind-it-out affairs that are won with sweat and muscle and Oklahoma State will forever tell you that’s how it was as it beat West Virginia’s women, 64-57, on their home court in Stillwater on Saturday.

But this one wasn’t won with the second-half comeback that the Cowgirls will pride themselves on, as they held the Mountaineers to just 19 second-half points over the final 20 minutes, hitting just 7 of 33 field goals for 21.1%, just one of those field goals from 3-point range.

It was a dominating defense, but this game was not won with a grunt but instead in a flash.

Call it the Miracle at Stillwater, if you must, for WVU was heading toward the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 38-30 lead, a strong defensive effort that had them in position to defend in the second half.

Then, as the clock ticked off its final second of the first half, Anna Gret Asi threw up a prayer from two steps beyond half court.

The ball soared slowly through the air as players looked on. They knew it was on line, but c’mon, more than half court?

Yep.

Bingo, bango, boffo, the ball went swish through the net. No iron, no nothing backboard.

For a moment the shooter had a look of disbelief and then it spread to a smile to match Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer as he crossed the goal line with the impossible game-clinching touchdown in the College Football Playoffs that sent the Buckeyes to the championship game.

Right there, with the lead cut to five points, everything turned upside down.

Oklahoma State bounced into their locker room. WVU walked in while in a state of shock. It was suddenly a two-possession game and no matter what anyone would say from then on, the game had turned.

It was like a Vegas gambler hitting 18 against a dealer’s ace and getting a 3-pointer of a different kind, sending them off on a wild and wonderful winning streak.

From that point on, WVU couldn’t score. Kylee Blacksten, who was off and running on her greatest game with 13 first-quarter points, would finish the game with 16.

JJ Quinerly, the All-American for West Virginia, and her backcourt running mate Jordan Harrison, who combined to lead the team in scoring, finished with 18 points combined, making just 7 of 27 shots and going 0 for 7 from 3.

Now it’s true that Oklahoma State played superb defense on those two throughout, always doubling Quinerly and never letting Harrison get into any kind of comfort zone. They were on them so hard that they seemed reluctant to put the ball up in the second half, often passing up open looks.

Meanwhile, the Cowgirls’ star Stailee Heard scored 18 points with seven rebounds.

The number that mattered the most was that Oklahoma State’s defense refused to allow WVU to turn defense into offense. While the Mountaineers forced 24 turnovers, they scored just 20 points off of them and were sloppy with the ball themselves, so that Oklahoma State had 18 points off turnovers themselves.

That, and shot of more than half court, made the difference in the game.