Hurried trouble

with the buzzer sounding. The Cowgirls couldn’t get another magical roll to win, which in return, ended the strong first season for OSU coach Jacie Hoyt.

On Saturday, Miami defeated OSU 62-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana. Alnatas’ shot rolled out and ended the game, but it wasn’t the full reason the Cowgirls lost. Miami pulled off the fourthlargest comeback in the history of the Women’s NCAA Tournament after halftime.

The Miami full-court press out of halftime erased the Cowgirls’ 37-20 lead and ultimately gave Miami (20-12 overall) the advantage to win.

The Hurricanes weren’t forcing turnovers, they were forcing the Cowgirls into low percentage, sped-up shots. The Cowgirls shot 8-31 from the field in the second half, which allowed quick transition buckets for the Hurricanes, who went 18-31 from the field.

”John (Smith) should have retired 10 years ago,” fan Craig Shelton said via Twitter. “He’s put us so far behind it’s embarrassing.”

If Smith isn’t the guy, who is?

Some Twitter users suggested OSU graduate Daniel Cormier, a UFC Hall of Famer. A guy without any college wrestling experience. Hire within? Consult the large network of Smith’s coaching tree?

OSU finished with two All-Americans, Dustin Plott and Daton Fix but started with 10 qualifiers.

Land-grant researchers search for a solution to feral hog problem

land-grant institutions involved in the research, has the goal to estimate feral hogs’ space use patterns within the refuge and help refuge managers by evaluating the effects of the species on the diversity of native mammal communities.

OSU is involved in the hunt to stop the hogs.

Across the southern region of the United States, researchers at land-grant institutions are working to stop more than $ 1 billion in economic damages each year.

Roughly 9 million feral hogs have been reported across 35 states. Forty years ago, feral hogs were almost unheard of in Oklahoma but now stretch all over the state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. By eating crops, digging up trees and devouring food that other animals depend on, these feral hogs can cause an estimated $1.5 billion in economic damages annually across the U.S.

Habitat degradation by feral hogs can sway the diversity and occurrence of native wildlife communities. They can also severely damage native flora and fauna through rooting behaviors and worsen the spread of invasive plants, alter soil and water resources and limit the regrowth of native plants. Feral hogs also carry and transmit diseases that are a high risk to the health of a lot of wild and domestic animals in the area.

“Damage from feral hogs has become a widespread phenomenon across many areas of the United States, causing a staggering amount of damage,” said Scott Senseman, associate vice president of OSU Ag Research. “A collaborative, multi-state effort is likely the only way to mitigate the problem.”

Oklahoma

As of 1993, feral hogs were documented at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, but the area is a key refuge for native bison conservation. Despite control efforts and cost, the feral hog population has persisted, and the ecosystem impacts have not been assessed.

Oklahoma State University, one of the

Remote game cameras at almost 100 sites within the refuge will document and keep track of how feral hogs and other native mammal species use specific wildlife areas. Smaller mammals have been live captured at 25% of the sites to document the small mammal diversity. The first field season results are in the progress of being analyzed.

The sampling process will be repeated from May through August of 2023. Researchers will analyze what environmental factors influence the various ways feral hogs use the refuge. Native animals will be evaluated to account for species that may have been missed. After this year’s sampling is complete, research and data results will be provided to natural resource managers and the scientific community.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Forest Resources Center in Monticello led a survey of 4,500 landowners across several states to gauge the economic damage feral hogs cause to forestlands, pasturelands, croplands and livestock.

The study approximated feral hog damages over five years across all of Arkansas and Louisiana in addition to 38 counties in east Texas. Private landowners’ average agricultural crop damage in the past five years was $28 per acre in both Arkansas and Louisiana and roughly $25 per acre in east Texas, according to the survey. The most reported feral hog damage to agricultural crops involved corn, rice, wheat, hay, soybeans, silage and forage crops.

Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries estimates the feral hog population in the state to be greater than 900,000. A Louisiana State University AgCenter survey approximated damages to commodity production at $66 million and other non-production losses at almost $25 million.