Texas A&M guard Takia Starks (3) grabs the loss ball while being guarded by Oklahoma State guard Andrea Riley during the second half of an NCAA college women's basketball game in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009. (/)

While members of the Kansas University women’s basketball team surely could have used a break following a week in which they were beaten twice and saw themselves drop from the national rankings, they won’t get one today against No. 15 Oklahoma State.

When the Cowgirls arrive at Allen Fieldhouse for the teams’ 11 a.m. matchup, they’ll do so toting one of the nation’s premier players in Andrea Riley, a senior guard fresh off a 43-point performance in the Cowgirls’ 78-65 victory over No. 5 Baylor on Saturday.

“She’s clearly the quickest guard in the league and probably close to the quickest guard in the country,” said KU coach Bonnie Henrickson, whose Jayhawks enter the game with a 10-4 record. “She shoots the three, she can drive it, she can pull up, she’s got a great jump shot, she can get to the rim and finish in traffic. She’s got the whole package.”

While Riley’s production as of late has been staggering — last week she averaged 34.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists en route to earning Big 12 player of the week honors — the 5-foot-5 senior from Dallas hasn’t exactly snuck up on anybody.

Two years ago, for instance, she scored 26 points against the Jayhawks in a 59-54 victory at Allen Fieldhouse, and her scoring output Saturday — her 43 points were more than the entire Kansas team scored against K-State — marked the third time in her career she’s reached the 40-point mark.

What’s made her even more impressive this season, however, has been a penchant for distributing the basketball.

In addition to leading the Big 12 in scoring with 24.9 points-per-game, she’s also the conference’s assists leader (she’s averaging 7.9-per-game), and her ability to put teammates in position to score has been one of the main reasons the Cowgirls sit at 13-2 (1-0 in the Big 12) this season.

Kansas plans to use senior guard Sade Morris on Riley today, though Henrickson acknowledged when it comes to defending OSU’s All-American candidate, shutting her down isn’t necessarily an option.

You do what you can to limit the damage and hope for the best.

“She likes to get up and down and move her defender, so you’ve got to stay down and then raise up and contest when she gets into her shot,” Henrickson said. “You just can’t let her stand out there and shoot uncontested threes. You can’t do that.”

Kansas’ execution hasn’t exactly been flawless as of late.

Following an upset loss to New Mexico State on Jan. 3, the Jayhawks endured one of their worst losses in recent memory against the Wildcats, scoring just 35 points and shooting 26 percent from the field in a 24-point throttling.

Despite entering halftime trailing by just two points, 24-22, Kansas allowed the Wildcats to open the second half with a 28-3 run that Henrickson said left her speechless following the game.

The good news, however, is that the Jayhawks’ conference schedule is only one game old, and today’s matchup with a ranked opponent represents a prime opportunity to snap the two-game skid that has tainted an otherwise encouraging start this season.

“The top three teams (in the conference) lost their opening games, so a lot of us got to be able to bounce back,” Henrickson said. “(Our players) were obviously pretty upset afterward and disappointed, and all the emotions you would expect from that. So they got to be resilient and come back and prepare and focus on getting it right and winning a game.”