Sooners Cap Big 12 Media Days

Oct. 22, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Members of the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team closed Wednesday's Big 12 Media Day at the Cox Convention Center.

OU head coach Sherri Coale, two-time reigning and preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Courtney Paris, All-Big 12 performer Ashley Paris and 2008 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Danielle Robinson represented the Sooners and talked about the upcoming season.

The Sooners' season is quickly approaching. OU will host an exclusive scrimmage for season ticket holders Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center.

OU also plays exhibitions against Western State College of Colorado on Nov. 6 and Oklahoma Christian on Nov. 11. Both games tip at 7 p.m.

The regular season open with OU hosting UC Riverside in the first round of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.

Big 12 Conference Media Days |

Coale Press Conference Transcript

Head Coach Sherri Coale

On what she learned from last season:
"You know, I didn't learn anything new after a summer of reflection that I didn't know when I was sitting there watching us lose to Missouri in Kansas City last year. Our whole is not greater than the sum of our parts, period. We have to be better together. We talk about that with teams all the time. You talk about that with your team. It's not enough just to be talented. It's not enough just to be just good players. You've got to figure out a way to be great together. That all just sounds like gibberish until you live through it.

"The reality of our crumble in February last year was just that -- that we weren't real good together. Even though we had some fantastic parts, we just weren't good enough together. And that's what team sports are all about. So we learned that lesson on our feet. We lived it. And it was obvious and our players made an immediate and apparent commitment to try to get it right.

"I think our play in the NCAA Tournament was a reflection of that. We just didn't have enough game experience in terms of really believing in one another and being solidified together to be able to survive a really hot Notre Dame team. But we played a lot better in the tournament than we did in the final weeks and months of the season."

On expectations after being named preseason No. 1 by the Big 12 coaches:
"Around here, we know what the expectations are and, for us, the internal expectations have been there for a couple years now. We felt last year that we underachieved and we're not happy about that. We want to do everything we can to change that."

On how OU's two freshmen are doing in practice:
"They don't look like freshmen. They really don't. Whitney Hand's a pure shooter and Jasmine Hartman has tremendous footwork and explosion. She's going to shock some people because she was a little bit under the radar coming out of high school. I think if you're at our practice, you're going to have a hard time figuring out who the freshmen are.

On other areas of improvement:
"The sophomore class got so much valuable experience last year. Danielle Robinson got so much big-game experience, lot of pressure situations. She carries herself completely differently this year. She really knows what she's doing and is ready to lead the team.

"Amanda's (Thompson) grown up; she's a junior now. Nyeshia's (Stevenson) playing a lot better, a lot tougher. So we've got a lot of guys who've improved quite a bit."

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Senior Center Courtney Paris

On having an offseason away from basketball:
"This offseason was a different experience for me. It was the first time since I was 15 years old that I wasn't playing all summer with USA Basketball, so I go to take some time off and work on the little parts of my game like footwork and just getting a bunch of shots up. It felt pretty cool to get away from basketball for a little bit. Now, I'm renewed and just ready to go. I'm excited to start."

On the team's focus during the summer:
"We were really disappointed with how we finished last year and we took that serious in the offseason. There were so many people in the gym getting better and better and that was one of the great things about being in Norman all summer -- was watching people progress and being a part of that."

On being picked preseason No. 1 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll:
"It was a great honor for us to be picked preseason No. 1 by the coaches in the Big 12. It's the best conference in the country. We know there are a lot of expectations for us and we want to meet them. We're doing whatever it takes and working hard every day in practice because it's how we want to finish this year."

On the toughness of the Big 12 Conference:
"I feel like the Big 12 Conference is the one that is best prepared for the tournament. You play against different styles of teams every game, and they know your style, and they are always tough games. So you're tested by the time you start playing in March. You don't know who you are going to get in the tournament, but you feel like you'll be able to match up with whoever it is because you've played the Big 12 schedule."

On what is different on a team that returned 11 players:
"We are better and different in that last year, we had a young team that played a lot of inexperienced players. This year, we're a veteran team that's only breaking in two new guys. I feel like where we finished (last year), we really took that personal. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder. Whitney Hand and Jasmine Hartman, our two freshmen, are really going to help us. Whitney can knock down shots like nobody's business and Jasmine led the nation in assists last year. There's a different kind of urgency, maybe something I'm noticing because it's my last time around here. I came to Oklahoma to win a national championship and I know that's, personally, what's pushing me."

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Senior Forward Ashley Paris

On her summer fitness program:
"I really just took our strength and conditioning program to heart and did everything our strength coach, Tim Overman, told me to do. A lot of it was just watching what you eat. I knew that for me to do my job this year, and play the position I have to play, I had to be able move a little better and have better endurance. Certainly, the work over the summer feels like it's paid off."

On difference in the team from the same point last season:
"There definitely a different atmosphere in practice. Everyone is more comfortable and we working toward being a better team. Last year, we were all pretty young and inexperienced and it was like we were working to be the best player we could be and that didn't help us become the best team we could be. We still worked on our individual stuff in the offseason, but, this year, we're more comfortable in the offense and defense and were just playing together better in practices. It's a whole different team."

On being named preseason No. 1 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll:
"Not really paying attention to it. We know what were capable of and that if we do our jobs, we can do some great things."

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Sophomore Guard Danielle Robinson

On the team's focus during the offseason:
"What happened at the Big 12 Tournament last year really hurt us a lot. I think we took a new accountability for each other this summer during workouts. We would ask each other what we did that day to make the team better and how hard we were working -- those kinds of things."

On the improvements to OU's offense:
"We have a lot of players -- Jasmine (Hartman), Nyeshia (Stevenson), Carlee (Roethlisberger) -- a lot of three/four guards who can spread the floor and get open space maybe not just to shoot, but to kick it out. We have great shooter in Whitney Hand and Amanda (Thompson) and Ny [Nyeshia], who can hit from mid-range to the 3-point line. I'm so excited for what we can be on offense."

On the improvement of Ashley Paris:
"Ashley's range has improved a lot. She made like three 3s in-a-row in practice the other day and she was being guarded. But every part of her game has improved and, physically, she looks great. She worked out hard this summer and she won't just be a strong post player for us, but she'll be a great perimeter player, as well."

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