Postgame Quotes

Dec. 8, 2010

Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale
On the game:
“I didn't think we started off very well. That could be the understatement of the century. We just looked lethargic and kind of disorganized and fragmented. We kind of played our way out of it and fought through it a little bit. It's hard to have a great deal of energy when you go 2-for-16 or something like that like we were at the beginning. I thought we got great looks at the basket but we couldn't make anything early and that kind of carried over to defense. We got nailed on a couple of ball screens. We've been preaching that for a couple of days because we got hit on so many in Columbus. We just kind of fought our way through it. As the night went on we got better and better at defending them. Our communication got better and we ended up scoring a lot of points.”

On Morgan Hook:
“She likes the Lloyd Noble Center, I don't know what else you say about that. I think that truly is a reflection of a really confident kid and an extraordinary competitor. I think a lesser person gets their dobber down for a little bit, feels sorry for themselves and maybe their confidence takes a hit and they are completely ineffective. I felt that way after the game, not that it didn't matter to her and not that she didn't want to make shots in Columbus. I just felt like her demeanor after the game, and I had never seen her go 0-for like that, her demeanor is just the same as when she makes seven. I think that's what's really special about both of these kids (Hook and Aaryn Ellenberg) is that even keel at which they move. They never get too high or too low, they just kind of methodically play along and they know what they are capable of and they go out and do it.”

On the team's defense in the second half:
“The second half was much better. We began to defend with a little more urgency and little more fight. I told our guys in the locker room after that we began to defend as one, we began to defend as a unit. That's progress. You're not going to guard anyone mano-a-mano, five guys guard the basketball. Just the team defense was so much better in the second half.”

Oklahoma Freshman Guard Aaryn Ellenberg
On her game evolving and improving on defense:
“I think I have my moments where I relax, I forget about playing defense. I mean, it's easy to forget sometimes when you're tired, but I'm trying to work on that. That's probably the biggest thing I have to work on that, boxing out.”

Oklahoma Freshman Guard Morgan Hook
On if this game was a sufficient bounce back after her last performance, shooting 0-for-7 at Ohio State:
“Absolutely. There's no way I could come in and go through that again. I guess I was feeling it. I wasn't really thinking about it. I just wanted to go out and do my thing.”

On if playing at home:
“I feel more comfortable, absolutely, I guess from just everyday practicing in the gym.”

Stephen F. Austin Head Coach Brandon Schneider
On the game:
“I think as a new coaching staff in a new place we are trying to change the culture. One thing we really stressed in this ball game was just fighting and competing for 40 minutes. I really felt like we did that. Obviously, in the first half, we got off to a good start and we made some shots and they missed some shots. We tried to mix up our defenses to keep them off-balance. (Morgan) Hook came off the bench and was obviously outstanding. Whether it was man or zone, she found looks and really gave them a spark. In the second half its really tough to sustain against that level of competition. I venture to say that they are going to be right back in the mix for a Big 12 title and a deep run in the tournament. For us to play as hard as we did every possession I'm proud of our guys and greatly respect their coaching staff and how they play the game.”

On his guard's getting shots in the first half:
“I think sometimes you work so hard to guard and one thing we had to do was take Tammara Marion and play her a little bit on Hook in the second half, and you start seeing jumpers fall short. We only traveled 10 guys on this trip and our bench is right now not as deep as we'd like. I also think we saw OU guard the ball screen better in the second half. We didn't execute as well, but the thing that we hurt them with was ball screens in the first half. They obviously sured that up quite a bit at halftime.”

On Decreasha Goodner:
“ (Decreasha) Cre's (Goodner) job is to defend and catch and shoot three's. She's not a player who can do a lot of things off the bounce so I think she's learning with a new staff what her role is and how she can contribute to the team. Obviously, she is one of the reasons we showed some signs of competing tonight.”

On his defense having 11 steals:
“We tried to mix it up. We can't go toe-to-toe with them and let them get an offensive rhythm, and they did at times anyway. One thing we tried to do was mix up our pick-up points, mix up man, zone and maybe try to get eight to 10 seconds off the shot clock before they could really get into offense. They are scary in transition and I think with the exception of a few possessions you didn't see a lot of run outs. That's something we talked a lot about.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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