Postgame Quotes

Dec. 2, 2007

OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH SHERRI COALE
On the game:
"We did some good stuff. We executed better. I know the turnover column looks hideous again; it does have to change if we're going to do what we want to do this year. When we weren't turning it over, we executed so much better than we did against North Texas. We got things that we wanted, we looked organized and our spacing was better."

On sophomore point guard Jenna Plumley's performance:
"I thought she shot it really well and played her tail off, defensively. There were way too many turnovers for a kid as talented as her, way too many turnovers for our point guard. But you have to guard her and the first three games of the year she didn't shoot it very well from the perimeter. I think everybody understands that you have to guard her and if you don't she'll make you pay.

"Defensively, I thought she did everything she could and tried to infuse us with energy. We didn't always take the gift that she was offering, but I thought she played hard."

On the team reading the defense better:
"I think we read better today, that's the thing I was most pleased with. We read the defense and made decisions based on how they were covering our post instead of just settling and throwing it up to a post, which we could do, we tried to make the right read -- a lot of cross-court passes and exploiting back side help."

OKLAHOMA JUNIOR CENTER COURTNEY PARIS
On second half defense:
"We were winning, but we did not think we were playing hard. Coach talked about it at halftime. We can play better than that, so in that first four-minute interval, we came out to try to change things."

On re-posting plays succeeding in the offense:
"I think we have a lot of players that can do a lot of things. We feel that the second time down is going to be the best shot because they have people come down to help. You have got to recover out to Jenna and when they do you repost and you are wide open."

SOPHOMORE GUARD JENNA PLUMLEY
On being comfortable in offense:
"I feel a lot more comfortable and a lot more confident. I feel like in practice, day-by-day, by playing hard and getting in a rhythm and knowing that (the post players) are going to get the ball."

ARKANSAS STATE HEAD COACH BRIAN BOYER
On the game:
"Give all the credit to Oklahoma. You hear a lot about them and the rankings and all of that, and when you finally get to see them in person, you realize just how good they are. I thought, from my team's performance standpoint, we did a lot of good things in the first half. I'm not over displeased with that half; we just couldn't throw it into the ocean. We couldn't hit a shot. And then even when we had some good defensive series, they would just throw it into Paris and she would take it from there. I'm disappointed in the outcome and there are certain things that we can take from this and keep going."

On Oklahoma's size:
"We can't match up with them. I mean, even if you pack things in with them, they can still just throw it up over your head. Just watching them in film leading into this, and it's something in past years when we have faced other great teams, such as the Dukes and the Purdues, there is one thing you always admire about them and it's their passing skills. I think that goes unnoticed with this team. Obviously, Courtney Paris is the real deal, but even when you think you have good position, they just put the ball on the money and get the ball to her. They are a very good passing team. We tried to pressure them and we did create 25 turnovers. I think we needed to create about 70 to have a chance."

On the beginning of the second half:
"Most of this game, I will give the credit to Oklahoma. However, there was one part in the first five minuets of the second half where I was very unhappy with how we played. I thought we came out and we did not play with the same kind of effort. We were playing five feet off of people when we were supposed to be pressuring them, we turned it over, and that is the one stretch that I put that on us."

On Courtney Paris:
"I think that the one thing I can say about Courtney that isn't said enough is about her surrounding cast. She can only be as good as the players around her, and obviously that's not taking anything away from her. She is going to go down as one of the best players in history, but the passing skills and everyone being able to get her the ball on the money and help her be effective. To me that's what makes her as great as she is."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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