Postgame Quotes

Dec. 28, 2011

Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale
Opening statement:
“I appreciate you guys being here. Thank you for your attendance tonight. I thought we had a fantastic crowd. I really did. I loved our attendance. Unfortunately we did not give them a whole lot to get excited about midway through the first half, they were with us during the first half we jumped out to a big lead and then it got a little flat and lifeless in here. I don't blame them since we weren't giving them much to feed off of, but then when we did get it going in the last interval they joined us and it was a good atmosphere. We appreciate our fans so much.”

On the player's reaction to the technical fouls assessed to TCU:
“I think they were more caught up with the fact that she made a 3 with one second on the (shot) clock. They didn't even really know (about the technical fouls). I was trying to tell them and calm them down. I was trying to tell Whitney that she needed to go shoot free throws. They were like,' why, what's going on'? I think that play is what ignited us much more than the technical fouls did.”

On the play of Aaryn Ellenberg:
“She comes out and is just in rhythm. You can tell. We have been around here long enough to know when it is going to be one of those games just based off the first two or three shots. Her teammates did a great job of finding her to right places, right times. She converted on them.”

On the lack of offense in the middle of the first half:
“During that span in the first half, we felt that their zone really affected our tempo. We were no longer playing at the speed that we are most successful. It was just a little token soft press that was causing us to take 10 or 11 seconds off the clock every possession, and then you don't have very long to attack the zone. That led to shots that weren't in rhythm. That's why coaches call zones. I thought in the second half we did a much better job. We continued to talk about tempo and attacking the zone. Getting the ball inside and back out, and defensively it was all about communicating because that's where your juice comes from. It is where you get your life.”

On the play of point guard Morgan Hook:
“I think every game I see her intellect, her basketball savvy, if you will, increase. She makes really good decisions. One of the things that makes her so great is she plays at the right speed. She is making really wise decisions.”

On her freshmen getting minutes tonight:
“Those guys need to be in situations like this, where they can be out there and learn and grow without the game being on the line. It is very important for those to have those types of minutes before we head into Big 12 play. I thought (Sharane) Campbell did some great things. Where she has improved is defensively. Her positioning and what she is seeing is so much better than it was eight or 10 days ago. (DaShawn) Harden has a lot of 'wow' in her game. She also turned the ball over eight times and gets frustrated easily, those are things that you have to play through as a true freshmen. Can she score? You bet. It is important to get those guys minutes because we are going to need them in Big 12 play.”

On how she feels going into Big 12 play next week:
“I don't know if I could have asked for a whole lot more right now. Are we playing perfectly? No. Do we have a ton to learn? Yes. We have got to get better in a lot of areas before we hit the grind of Big 12. I have been so pleased with their progress and their approach. Their approach to practice, their approach to learning, their approach to consequences, really everything they have bought in. Once a team buys in, they are pretty easy to coach and they have been. I think that has been a part of our leadership.”

Oklahoma Junior Guard Whitney Hand
On OU's scoring run following the ejection of TCU head coach Jeff Mittie:
“When anything like that happens to a team, I'm sure they're kind of like, 'this is annoying...not sure what to do.' I think we took advantage of them being on their heels like that. It was a seven point swing. A 3-pointer and then four free throws. Obviously that went in our direction and we took advantage of that.”

On how the team is developing:
“I think it's all about our attitude toward it. Early on, going into games it's kind of like, you're not really sure what's going to happen. I feel like these last five games we've developed a sense of confidence and a sureness in who we are, not just as scorers. We are scorers, obviously, we put a lot of points up on the board. I think in a team as a whole, in our game plans, in our plays, in our ability to read off each other, it's all grown. These last weeks of practice we've really learned how to achieve that. That's been kind of our goal and I think we're getting there.”

Oklahoma Sophomore Guard Morgan Hook
On how her play during the Sooners' five-game winning streak:
“I think my confidence as a whole has come together. I feel like I'm doing a better job at practice in leading the team and being more vocal.”

Oklahoma Sophomore Guard Aaryn Ellenberg
On how the team the past five games with quick scoring runs:
“We're all great shooters so I have confidence in all of them. Whether I'm the one shooting the ball or they are. We're going to make shots. That's just something we do and it's part of our team.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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