Postgame Quotes

Jan. 17, 2010

Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale
On the game:
“I am so proud of our toughness. We talked about it all week. Texas A&M is not only one of the toughest teams in this league, but in the country. You had to match their intensity and I think we did that. I loved the way we went to the rim. We showed confidence and I love that.”

On if hitting 3-pointers early in the game opened things up for the offense:
“That alleviates a lot of the pressure. I thought Abi Olajuwon played great. She was just a warrior all day long. She and A.T. (Amanda Thompson) had double-doubles. Both of those guys really fought for us. I think that is the longest, hardest I have seen Abi play. This is the tip of the iceberg for her. She should realize how she can go out and affect games with her play.”

On playing only seven players and the conditioning of the team:
“Everyone was submersed in the game. We were focused on one thing, which was the possession at hand. I thought Jaz (Jasmine Hartman) came in the game and played great. It was an entire team effort.”

On Texas A&M cutting the lead to three late in the game:
“They really affected our rhythm. It wasn't that they were forcing turnovers, they were just affecting our offensive rhythm. I loved how we went to the rim and knocked down free throws and came up with some big rebounds.”

On the importance of the victory and the toughness of the Big 12:
“Absolutely (it was important). We will enjoy this one tonight but we will come back tomorrow and start thinking about Missouri and see if we can't steal one on the road and come up with a win. Every night you have to come out and be tough in this league.”

Junior Guard Danielle Robinson
On OU's aggressiveness on offense:
“That was just part of the game plan. The way they pressure, really the only option is to attack and if they help it's extra. That's why Ny (Stevenson) knocked down some huge 3's in the corners. You have to be aggressive with them and she told us over and over and over.”

On progressing into the season:
“This gives us momentum. Beating A&M is always tough and it's always a battle, even when you're at home. But I think it could be the turning point of our season. We learned from the Baylor game and that was evident and we can only go forward from here, so that's what we're looking to do.”

Senior Forward Amanda Thompson
On the team getting extra possessions tonight:
“Rebounding is an important factor in our game. I think that me and Abi (Olajuwon) and Jo (Joanna McFarland), and some of the guards, too, we just crashed and they weren't blocking out a lot of possessions and we took advantage of that. I'm pretty happy about that because we have been slacking on the rebounds.”

On tonight's attitude:
“It had to do a little bit with the atmosphere with the white-out, but a lot of it had to do with the Baylor game and how we felt. If we would have just walked away being okay with our performance then we wouldn't have been able to perform how we did tonight. We just take things to heart and try to learn from each step; take two steps forward instead of one step back.”

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Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game:
“It was all Oklahoma today. The story line was Danielle Robinson, Nyeshia's (Stevenson) three's in the first half and (Abi) Olajuwon and what she was able to do. She might be the most improved player in the conference. Give the kid a lot of credit, she lost the weight and has waited for her opportunity just like (Damitria) Buchanan has for us because she has been a three-year back up. We couldn't play Buchanan as much as I would have liked because of two early, not-very-smart fouls but then when we got behind, I had to go to (Danielle) Adams for longer than I wanted to. As a result she hurt us on the defensive end and hurt us on rebounding. But when we are behind we have to have scoring options, because Oklahoma was doing a great job of taking Tanisha (Smith) away and sometimes Tanisha was taking herself away. “

Closing remark:
“It wasn't a good day for the (Dallas) Cowboys or the Aggies today. A lot of times you just have to sit back and give your opponent credit. We hit enough shots that we could have come back but Oklahoma protected their home court and now the schedule is in their favor. I told the team before, if they won tonight, they would win their next four. (Oklahoma head coach) Sherri (Coale) didn't like hearing that but the schedule is in their favor and, if they can play with that much heart and emotion that they did today, they remind me of the old Oklahoma teams that I have seen in the past.”

Texas A&M Junior Guard Sydney Colson
On the match up defensively:
“Today we just didn't give a good defensive effort. We already knew Robinson was going to overplay us and not let us come back to our right-hand side. So a lot of times when we were running a play we would have to go to the other side and find another option and throw to another player coming off a screen. I don't think that necessarily took us out of our offensive game plan, we just didn't execute a lot of stuff and play how we need to play. People couldn't hear and it just wasn't a good effort from us.”

On the crowd being a factor:
“I think some of the times it was. It was easier when we were down on our end and my our bench.”

On start of both halves:
“The whole first have we were just in a funk. We just weren't making things happen and later in the second half right when we got things going it was a little too late, I think. There was one point where we were only down three points and they dropped back into a zone and I think, if we would have made a shot, it would have been a closer game, but we missed and it just seemed like it was back and forth again.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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