Stailee Heard back as lone holdover for revamped Oklahoma State women's basketball team

STILLWATER — Spring was a strange time for Stailee Heard .

OSU women’s basketball was fresh off its first NCAA Tournament win in five seasons, yet all the Cowgirls who contributed to that run were gone. All but one. All but Heard, the senior from Sapulpa.

Micah Gray and Haleigh Timmer had graduated. Achol Akot (North Carolina) and Jadyn Wooten (TCU) had transferred. So had Amari Whiting (Iowa) and Lena Girardi (Utah).

Even Heard’s little sister, Tyla, had transferred (Akron).

But Heard remained in Stillwater.

“I love this place,” Heard said Wednesday. “Regardless of wins or losses. I love the people I go to war with every day. I love being here, having the support staff I have around here. There’s nothing really negative to say about this school, this place, so I don’t know why I would leave.”

The all-conference standout is now surrounded by an entirely new cast of teammates, including a couple of co-stars in Audi Crooks and Liv McGill, who transferred to OSU from Iowa State and Florida. ESPN’s Michael Voepel ranked OSU as the No. 1 winner in the transfer portal .

“I’ve been loving getting to know these girls individually on and off the court,” Heard said. “We really have had so much fun. You’ll be able to tell once we start playing.”

Tip-off is still three months away. The OSU women just wrapped up their eighth and final week of summer workouts.

Heard, Utah transfer LA Sneed and coach Jacie Hoyt met with the media before practice Wednesday. Here’s what we learned.

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Audi Crooks has ‘team mom’ energy

In Audi Crooks , OSU added a two-time All-American and a player who at Iowa State led the Big 12 in scoring and field goal percentage in back-to-back years.

For all of her accolades, the 6-foot-3 center has been a selfless teammate so far at OSU.

“Like a team mom,” Heard said. “She cares about everyone, she’s always asking how everyone’s doing.”

Between OSU’s top newcomers, McGill is “very, very professional in her approach,”  Hoyt said, while Crooks “has been really good for our team to kind of bring a lighter side to things and make it fun and joyful."

“She’s got this amazing charisma about her that just attracts people,” Hoyt added of Crooks.

Before practice Wednesday, Hoyt heard Crooks say that she feels “like 10-year-old Audi playing the game that I love.”

“I believe her when she says that, because you can see that and you can feel that,” Hoyt said. “It’s just been really neat to be around.”

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LA Sneed had ‘that feeling’ about OSU

LA Sneed was a five-star prospect coming out of Wagner High School in San Antonio, Texas. She signed with Utah, where she averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 assists in 26.2 minutes per game as a freshman.

Sneed entered the portal and found the right fit at OSU.

“Everyone talks about having that feeling,” Sneed said Wednesday. “That’s what I felt even after leaving here and visiting another school in the portal. I still was thinking about Oklahoma State …”

Hoyt described the 5-foot-6 guard as a facilitator on offense and a stopper on defense.

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Cowgirls forming chemistry

It was a little awkward at first, Sneed said of meeting her teammates. Everyone but Heard was new.

“But I think we warmed up to each other,” Sneed said. “We’ve been building that sisterhood during the summer, and I think it’s going to be amazing going into the season.”

The quick chemistry the Cowgirls have built is what Hoyt sounded most proud about. She compared the transfer portal to speed dating.

“You can only learn so much about a person in the short amount of time that we have,” Hoyt said. “I knew the girls were good, I knew I was getting good people, good families, but the intangibles that they have, the leadership they’ve shown, it’s far exceeded the expectations that I had going into it.”

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Talexa Weeter, Ellie Brueggemann standing out

Much of the attention, and rightfully so, has been on Audi Crooks and Liv McGill.

Heard and Sneed were both asked to pick another teammate who’s impressed during summer workouts.

Heard went with Ellie Brueggemann, the former Lincoln Christian star from Owasso. Brueggemann was a three-year starter at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri. She led the Ohio Valley Conference last season in 3-point percentage, shooting 44% on 6.6 attempts per game.

“I played against her in high school and she’s shot all the way up,” Heard said. “I hated playing against her because she could shoot the p--- out of the ball. I love having her as a teammate now. She’s funny, she’s always high energy, she’s always picking us up.”

Sneed picked Talexa Weeter, the reigning Division II player of the year who transferred from Fort Hays State in Kansas. Weeter led all of Division II in scoring at 27.5 points per game last season as a junior.

“I think people underestimate her because she came from (Division II), but I think she’s gonna be a big problem for a lot of people,” Sneed said. “She has some things that not many people at her position have.”

Weeter is listed as a 6-foot guard, but she can play in the post as well.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Stailee Heard back as lone holdover for revamped Oklahoma State women's basketball team

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