Postgame Notes

March 7, 2008

OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH SHERRI COALE
On the game and A&M's turnaround ...
"I was really proud of our team particularly down the stretch. I thought we really fought and made it respectable at the end. We scratched and clawed our way back in and I was pleased with that. I thought we played pretty hard and our effort was pretty good. We didn't do a great job on the boards. Obviously, there were way too many offensive boards by A&M. But, we didn't throw the ball all over the gym like we have done against them before and we kept that in check. We just needed to make some shots. They do a great job of pressuring the basketball and a great job of denying the passing lanes. It was a very physical game and it was hard to get loose. I think (Danielle) Gant has improved all season long. They are just playing with experience and swagger and all those things that a senior-laden team does at this time of year. (Morenike) Atunrase looked a little bit healthier than she has all season which has been a big difference as well."

On moving forward and looking ahead to the Big 12 Championship ...
"The slate's clean. It's a breath of fresh of air and now you have an opportunity, because everyone starts at square one. I think we understand, because we've gone all the way through it before by playing four games in a row. There is a lot of opportunity and a lot of things left to play for."

OKLAHOMA JUNIOR CENTER COURTNEY PARIS
On heading into the Big 12 Tournament ...
"Like Coach (Coale) said, it's a clean slate. Our teams have done it before by coming back and winning it. We are going to start over and give it our best try. That's all you can do. We just gotta get the job done. That's what happened tonight. We just didn't get the job done."

OKLAHOMA SOPHOMORE GUARD JENNA PLUMLEY
On the game ...
"We just needed to come out and play like it was our last. We showed spurts of playing hard, but it's about finding it for 40 minutes and playing hard."

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TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
On the game and OU ...
"Twenty-one points on (Danielle) Gant's 21st birthday, there's your headline. It looks like we will more than likely see OU again. I thought one of the huge keys to the game is what we did with (Courtney) Paris on the boards. She got eight rebounds in the last six minutes of the game mainly off of our missed frees throws. We weren't trying to get her from keeping her from getting a double-double. That was the furthest thing from our mind. We wanted her to work for everything and she was having to do it. (La Toya) Micheaux and (Damitria) Buchanan were a doing an excellent job out there. We were forcing the turnovers early in the game and then we started turning the ball over to them. We have to handle the ball better than we did tonight. Morenike (Atunrase) in the second half was very good. She did a very good job of putting the ball on the floor and going to the hole. I thought we did a good job of defending (Jenna) Plumley overall. That kid can play. She's a good ball player."

On the team's defense and shot selection ...
"It was a good, solid game. Our shot selection was excellent in the first half. We were shooting mid-range shots, because we could not get into the hole because of the Paris twins. I thought we did a good job particularly on Ashley Paris and Amanda Thompson. It was a very good defensive effort by our team. I wasn't really pleased with how the game ended. We let them right back into the ballgame with our inability to hit free throws and our turnovers. We will work on that and I think we were really excited to go to Kansas City. We just want to do better than we have done the last couple of years at the Big 12 Tournament."

On A&M beating OU, Baylor and Oklahoma in their final three-game stretch ...
"All three of those teams beat us this year and they kept us from playing for a conference championship. It was a little bit of a payback tour, because we respect all three of those programs. We are a good hardworking basketball team. Are we the hottest team right now? Yes, we are, but we have to go out and prove it again. This really helped our NCAA Tournament seed after beating two top 10 teams in the last week."

TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD/FORWARD MORENIKE ATUNRASE
On the game ...
"It was a great win for us. I don't think about it as our last home game, because we have a lot of games ahead of us. This win has given us momentum going into the tournament and we just need to go out and handle our business."

TEXAS A&M JUNIOR GUARD/FORWARD DANIELLE GANT
On the difference in the first half and playing against Oklahoma ...
"I think it was because of our defense and picking up the ball and not letting them lob it into Ashley or Courtney Paris. It's just a regular game to me. Of course, I'm from Oklahoma and it's always a great battle. It was a great win for us and our team."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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