Freshmen show out, goalie update and more from Cowgirls’ exhibition win against Missouri

defenders became more distant.

“I just thought, ‘Oh perfect,’” Wilson said.

Chance found the freshman midfielder in space, as Wilson followed with a floater over the goalkeeper, into the back of the net for the match’s first score in the 43rd minute.

Daniel Allen Staff Reporter

Following Hannah Chance up the field was the premise of Laudan Wilson’s focus. Not in an exaggerated sense, of course, to where an offside penalty could be awarded. However, do that, she had been told by her coaches in practice, and good things will follow. Sure enough, it came to fruition Saturday evening in Oklahoma State’s 2-0 exhibition win over Missouri at Neal Patterson Stadium.

As Chance, a redshirt sophomore forward, dribbled the ball near the penalty box, a herd of Tiger defenders swarmed her. Wilson stood yards away from her teammate, ready to jump on an opportunity to assist her team. As her teammate drew closer, nearby

Venables seeks improvement from Oklahoma’s defense in 2023

Davis Cordova Staff Reporter

Over the next few weeks, The O’Colly sports staff will release its Big 12 preseason rankings in the form of team previews. This time, it’s the Oklahoma Sooners, which our writers picked to finish third.

A year before heading to the SEC, Oklahoma is looking to get back on top of a conference they’ve dominated.

It’s been three years since the Sooners claimed Big 12 title. From 2015-20, OU won each conference championship and appeared in four College Football Playoffs.

After two straight seasons of missing on the Big 12

Championship game, OU will need help from a lot of first- and second-year Sooners in order to return to the top of the conference. The roster has faced turnover the past few years with the departure of former coach Lincoln Riley, and Venables said the roster has 97 players who are in their first or second year in Norman. A 6-7 record in 2022, combined with new players, isn’t a desired position to be in to compete for a title, but Venables said it’s about developing into a good team.

“Improving in the areas where we can improve,” Venables said. “You do that in lots of different ways, whether it’s scheme, it’s players, it’s development, it’s teaching, it’s practicing. Again, it can’t ever happen fast enough. We haven’t been good on defense for a long time, but everywhere I’ve been it’s been a rebuilding process to some degree.”

See Venables on 3

After George Floyd’s murder, more states require release of police disciplinary records

Amanda Hernández Stateline.org

Faced with growing calls for the public release of police disciplinary records, lawmakers in almost every state have grappled with how to balance revealing law enforcement misdeeds and protecting officers’ privacy and safety.

California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York also are among the states that have opened police disciplinary records to the public in recent years.

But police records in most states remain largely confidential or have some release restrictions. And even in states with open records laws, advocates seeking records have faced barriers, leading to lawsuits.

“I honestly thought the defender would get a little tap on it,” Wilson said. “But I was able to get my foot through and score, so I was really happy.”

But the offensive charge didn’t stop there.

Forty-two seconds later, freshman forward Lexi Lee’s put-back score gave the Cowgirls a cushion they wouldn’t relinquish.

OSU coach Colin Carmichael said his team garnering two goals from first-year players is a testament to the depth within his team. And on a roster looking for its next “it” factor with the losses of Grace Yochum and Olyvia Dowell – both of whom are top five in goals scored at OSU – Carmichael hopes that freshman productivity is a glance at the future.

See Freshmen on 3

Fueled by public outrage over the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and other high-profile incidents of police violence, state policymakers have offered a variety of police oversight and transparency bills.

Between May 2020 and April 2023, lawmakers in nearly every state and the District of Columbia introduced almost 500 bills addressing police investigations and discipline, including providing access to disciplinary records, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Sixty-five of the bills have been enacted.

Delaware in June became the most recent to pass transparency legislation, expected to be signed into law this month.

Advocates for transparency argue that the release of disciplinary records empowers residents, journalists and civil rights activists to identify patterns of misconduct and hold officers accountable.

“Police misconduct records should be available to the public in most situations, if not all situations, because these are folks who have a lot of power and authority,” said Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, which advocates for more transparency. “They have the power to lawfully take a person’s life. The stakes are just so high when there’s a police officer who’s got a lengthy record of misconduct.”

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