Oklahoma - Iowa State Postgame Quotes - University of Oklahoma

Jan. 8, 2001

Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale
On Iowa State's final shot to win the game:
"It was a great play. It was a tough shot. I thought we contested it, it just went in.

On the Sooners' 18-point deficit in the second half:
"We dug a hole for ourselves, no doubt. The way we dug ourselves back out of it sure gives us a great deal of promise. We showed a lot of poise and heart. Iowa State is the No. 7 team in the country. If we don't slip in the first five minutes of the second half, we beat them. It doesn't come down to the final shot."

"It's tough when you look at the stat sheet and see all the categories when won. We sure lost that free throw category though."

On the loss:
"I'll be honest, this hurts right now. It's hard to lose a game at the buzzer. It's never easy to lose a game anywhere, but it's really hard like this. I'm sure when we wake up in the morning we'll realize what a terrific comeback that was. We will learn from this game and be a better team because of it. The bottom line is we can't dig a hole for ourselves like we did and beat the No. 7 team."

On Oklahoma's solid start in the game:
"I felt like we started the game terrifically. It couldn't have been any better. I thought we showed a lot of poise, we had a swagger to our game. When the fouls began to get called, we became passive. Our passiveness on the defensive end carried over to the offensive end."

On how OU's loss will affect the team in the Big 12 Conference race:
"I don't think any team will come through unscathed. The league is just too good. It just means we'll have to steal one on the road."

Junior guard Stacey Dales
On overall game performance:
"Our (defensive) game plan was to stay in front at all times and not help, and that's what I did. We should have been more aggressive on the boards and rebound early on in the game. It was definitely a three-point shooting game. I thought we passed the ball really well today, we stayed focused and were very intent on shooting and keeping the outside game open. It is difficult, however, to steal the momentum. I literally had goose-bumps running up and down the court. This was the first time the crowd was so excited and on their feet. You just have to find the hidden energy from within and it just clicks for you."

Senior guard Sunny Hardeman
On overall game performance:
"My teammates were able to find me for the three-pointers and when I am wide open, I will definitely take the shot. It's just like coach said, we have to be better all the way through the game and be more aggressive with rebounds."

Iowa State Head Coach Bill Fennelly
"Obviously this is what people have talked about Big 12 basketball being all about. I saw two teams that were very good and played their guts out, we just had two more points at the end of the game. I thought that whatever both teams had, they gave it today. This is a huge road win for our kids. I think this game shows the character of our team because most teams would have lost a big lead in the building with this crowd and against this quality of opponent."

On Oklahoma's 20-0 run:
"I don't know how many shots they made in a row but it was unbelievable how many three's they stuck. I don't think it was so much bad defense as great offense. When you are down by 12 points there isn't as much pressure to make those shots as there is down the stretch. They made a couple early and then they started hitting everything. You saw what Stacey Dales can do and Sunny Hardeman was unbelievable."

On Oklahoma's rebounding:
"Rebounding was the number one statistic that we looked at in practice this week. I thought Oklahoma's offensive rebounding was the strength of their team as well as their rebounding in general. If we don't rebound the ball with them in side then we are going to get hammered so we made a commitment to that."

Iowa State Senior Erica Haugan
On Oklahoma's 20-0 run:
"It's real draining. It gets frustrating when you don't guard the people that you are supposed to or you are not where you are supposed to be. Even a little bit and it throws your whole defense off. You have to give Oklahoma a lot of credit for moving the ball fast. They had a lot of three's at the end of the game and those add up."

Iowa State Sophomore Megan Taylor
On Oklahoma's three point shots:
"We definitely didn't lose track of Stacey Dales because she was one of our main focus. I think that we were chasing after the other shooters and couldn't get to Sunny Hardeman in time. Stacey Dales is so tall that she just shot right over us and could have done it all night."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma - Iowa State Postgame Quotes

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