Lady Mocs Basketball - Postgame Quotes vs. Oklahoma State
3/21/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
No. 4 Oklahoma State 70 - No. 13 Chattanooga 63
NCAA Tournament First Round - Sacramento Regional
Wells Fargo Arena - Tempe, Ariz.
March 20, 2010
Head Coach Wes Moore
Opening Statement:
"You have to give Oklahoma State a lot of credit. It was a great move going to the press and then falling back into the zone. Their length and athleticism gave us some trouble. We tried a few different ways to attack the press, but they did a great job of making it tough on us and taking us out of what we were doing. The couple of times they went man in the second half, we were able to get some good looks and knock down shots. They made a great adjustment. We knew at halftime they would come out realizing this was it and they did. They turned the heat up, so give them a lot of credit."
On how Oklahoma State's full-court press affected the team in the second half:
"The biggest thing is they really brought it up close to the baseline. They had three people committed to trapping the point guard if it came in there. The adjustment we tried to make was to throw over it, closer to half court. We tried to push it down the court on them and get some early looks. They have a lot of size and a lot of athleticism, and they were hungry. They didn't miss many shots to start off the second half and they had a lot of energy, and we didn't handle it well. We had two freshmen and a sophomore out there a lot of the time, but it affected even our veterans. It gave us a lot of problems and you have to give Oklahoma State a lot of credit. It turned the game around."
On the play of Cowgirls Forward Tegan Cunningham:
"She just got hot. She started feeling it and that's what happens. She was 1-for-13 in the first half and I thought our kids did a pretty good job of getting a hand in the face. Our defense was definitely not as good in the second half and I think part of that was we had so many turnovers. We had six at halftime and ended up with 23, so a lot of their scoring came off of their defense. Cunningham and Young both stepped up and knocked down shots, and I think that's what got them going. We obviously had a hard time hitting shots and their defense had a lot to do with that."
Thoughts on the game:
"Right now, it hurts. Especially when we had such a great opportunity with a nice lead at halftime. But like I said, I told the team this is do-or-die and you either win or go home. So your going to see a lot more aggression, they're going to be crashing the boards and turning up the heat defensively. The press and the zone took us out of our normal offensive routine and things we like to do. Again, great job on their part, but it hurts."
Guard Kayla Christopher
Thoughts on the game:
"I'm at a loss for words, really. We lost our composure when they went to the press, gave up a few too many turnovers and they took advantage."
Thoughts on the season:
"It was a great year. I know we started off slow, but we faced a lot of adversity and overcome a lot of it. It was a great year and I wouldn't take it back. "
Forward Shanara Hollinquest
Thoughts on the game:
"It hurts a lot. It was right there in our fingertips and we let it go. I wish we could have some moments back, but it's gone now."
Thoughts on the season:
"Overall, I think we just matured as a team and individually. I'm proud of the team and how we performed down the stretch. I wouldn't trade it away for anything in the world."
Oklahoma State Head Coach Kurt Budke
Opening statement:
"I've been in this a long time now and I think that's the biggest win I've ever been associated with. It's one thing to come back and get a win, but it's another thing to get your butt beat for 20 minutes and figure out a way to come back without your star. I'm so proud of these kids right here and they stepped up, not just these two but the whole team. We went from a story where people were questioning us to I think the greatest story in America right now in women's college basketball after this game. I just thought it was a great game for fans to watch. I thought there was shown unbelievable heart from this team on how to just keep fighting and never die. What we talked about at halftime was we had just watched Dayton come back from down 18 with 13 minutes to go today and we can do it too. We were down 14 to Texas with seven minutes to go and found a way to do it. The thing that was special about today was that we did it without Andrea Riley and I'm just so proud of these kids. It's a very emotional locker room right now."
On substitution pattern in second half:
"They shot the ball extremely well and they're well coached. We didn't think we could come out in the second half and let them run their stuff again for 20 minutes. They already proved they could kick us doing that. We just talked about at halftime that we were going to go for a minute and a half at a time, two minutes tops. We were going to just rotate people in and out and change the tempo of the game and change up a couple of different defenses with pressure. We've got nothing to lose, so everything you've got let's get it and we'll get you out. Tegan had to come back around there and we knew she would. The girls just bought into it at halftime.
