Tulsa World: OSU's Byford puts in hours for minutes

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

OSU's Byford puts in hours for minutes

GETTING MINUTES
Megan Byford: OSU junior is expected to play 30 minutes a game at post this year.

By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer
Published: 10/28/2008 2:06 AM
Last Modified: 10/28/2008 3:12 AM

STILLWATER — Megan Byford wears her badges of courage proudly.

The inch-long gash over her right eye, the bruise on her left cheek are indicators of just how physical Oklahoma State women's basketball practices have become since the Cowgirls Sweet Sixteen run a year ago.

"It happened in practice, but I won't call anybody out," Byford said at OSU media day on Monday. "I had another nice gash across my cheek last week. It's OK. I'm not trying to be a beauty queen."

Byford, who grew up on the family farm in Bray, earned her moxie last year when forced to guard two of the premier post players in women's basketball in LSU's Sylvia Fowles and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris.

"I could get into trouble here," Byford said when asked about comparing the two. "Sylvia is just such an all-around player, she can play anywhere. Courtney is a great post player. They are two of the best in the game, so I took a lot of confidence from that. And I held my own."

The lessons learned last year should benefit the 6-foot-2 junior this season as she inherits the post position vacated by graduate Maria Cordero.

Byford averaged 2.7 points and 2.8 rebounds while playing nine minutes a game in 2007-08. She will be expected to play at least 30 minutes this season, so she got in better shape this summer.

"I only lost about 10 pounds but I'm in the best shape of my life," she said. "If they need me to play 30-40 minutes a game, I feel like I can do it."

Said head coach Kurt Budke, "I don't know that she is ready to go 40 minutes at the pace we play. I'm hoping that she is ready to go 30 minutes. She's a better defender than Maria, a better rebounder than Maria. The only difference is Maria could pop out and hit a 3. I'm not sure I'm willing to trade that 3-pointer every once in a while for what Megan gives us."

As for Byford's athleticism, Budke said, "Megan was our best post player at the end of (last) year. Today, she's running the floor better than ever before. And she is leaving what we call the 3-foot circle that surrounds every player on the court and going after rebounds. She's a totally different player than last year."

Teammate Taylor Hardeman agrees.

"Megan is a very strong person; that's something we've lacked in the past," Hardeman said. "She brings that for us."

Byford beams when a teammate shouts, "Big Country," a nickname she received in reference to former OSU men's standout Bryant Reeves.

"It's such an honor, knowing what he meant to basketball," she said. "The great player that he was, this one of the biggest compliments I can get. My heroes growing up really were cowboys."

Lynn Jacobsen 581-8461
lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

0 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.