STILLWATER — Jacie Hoyt started her regular postgame address of the Oklahoma State fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena with an apology.

She apologized for her team’s effort in a 65-57 loss to Houston Saturday evening — a Houston team that entered with a 3-10 record in the Big 12, sitting in next-to-last.

“I promise we’ll fix it,” Hoyt said in an abrupt postgame speech. “Thank you for coming.”

OSU (12-13, 5-9 Big 12) got 15 points from freshman Stailee Heard and 11 from Anna Gret Asi, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Cowgirls’ seventh loss in the last eight games.

It was a former Cowgirl who led the way for Houston.

N’Yah Boyd — who spent the 2021-22 season at OSU but entered the transfer portal after former coach Jim Littell was let go — had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Cougars (13-12, 4-10). Shalexxus Aaron hit four of eight 3-pointers on her way to 12 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Cowgirl defeat:

Hoyt displeased with effort

While her speech to the crowd was likely impacted by her frustration immediately after the loss, Hoyt’s postgame press conference was heavy with praise of Houston, which forced 16 turnovers overall, and in the second half, hit seven of 13 tries from 3-point range.

Yet it was her own team’s lack of fight that ate at Hoyt.

“Our effort, our togetherness,” Hoyt said when asked what bothered her the most. “All season long, I have felt like we’re the tougher team, I have felt like we’re the more together team, despite our limited numbers.

“I didn’t feel that today. I didn’t feel like people were giving their best from an effort standpoint. I didn’t think we were being very good teammates at certain times.”

The Cowgirls used just seven players until the final minute of the game, when Hoyt dug deep into the bench. But injuries have zapped the Cowgirls’ depth.

Even the healthy players aren’t so healthy. Rylee Langerman had eight points in 17 minutes of action, despite playing through knee pain that required her to wear a brace. And she had circular bruises on her right shoulder from the pain relief treatment known as cupping.

“Just having mental toughness coming back from this injury is something I’ve really had to learn, because I’ve never had a knee injury before,” she said. “At some point, you just have to make up your mind that it’s not gonna bother you.

“I think every game that I’ve come back has been better, and every practice has gotten better, but it’s been a bit of a process for me.”

Asi and Heard each played all 40 minutes, and Lior Garzon played 39. Usually effective guard Quincy Noble was on the floor for just 23 minutes after playing 36 or more in each of the last six, and 30 or more in all but two games this season.

“I didn’t think that Quincy was who she needed to be for us to win that game,” Hoyt said.

Three-point barrage not enough for Cowgirls

Even when things went well for OSU, Houston seemed to have an answer.

Over the closing minutes of the third quarter, OSU hit 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions.

Yet the run began with the Cowgirls down by six, and when it ended, they still trailed by three.

Down 38-32 midway through the third quarter, and with the shot clock running down, Garzon kicked out to Langerman for a corner 3-pointer right in front of the Cowgirls’ bench — which was celebrating before the ball left her fingertips.

She hit that one, and on the next trip, it was Asi with a 3-pointer. That was followed on the next possession by a Stailee Heard 3, and Asi added a fourth straight the next time down.

OSU twice tied the game during that stretch, yet Houston had answers, with two 3-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play in the same span to lead 47-44 at the end of the third quarter.

Then Houston hit back-to-back 3s to start the fourth quarter, keeping the Cowgirls at a distance the rest of the way.

“They did a really good job early on of turning us over and disrupting what we’ve been doing offensively,” Hoyt said. “And in the second half in particular, they just shot the lights out. I thought we had several possessions where we played really good defense, and they just made the shot.”

Up next for Cowgirls

Hoyt’s promise to fix the Cowgirls’ issues comes with a self-imposed deadline. She asked the fans to return for Wednesday’s game, when they host Central Florida at 6:30 p.m. at GIA.

That will be the second in a string of four straight games in the state of Oklahoma.

The season’s Bedlam series wraps up at OU at 1 p.m. Saturday. And OSU’s final home game of the season is set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 before the regular-season finale at Baylor at 11 a.m. March 3.

OSU has just a couple more practices to fix the issues that bothered Hoyt on Saturday.

“That’s something that we’re not about in this program,” Hoyt said. “You know, it’s gonna happen. It’s just the first time that it’s happened with this team, and that’s what we need to correct.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State Cowgirls lose to Houston in Big 12 women's basketball