Postgame Quotes

Dec. 4, 2011

Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale
Opening statement:
“We are a young team and I thought we made some progress today. We had it to a one-possession game and had, I think, four different attempts at it. We were down one but we just weren't able to get over the hump. Some untimely turnovers, though I thought our sureness with the basketball was better than it has been, just they came at some bad times. We didn't shoot it the way I think this team will shoot it and the way we expect to shoot it. We missed a little of our mojo that comes from that. But, I thought we did fight. This is why we play teams like this when you're really young, so you can grow up and figure some things out. We are doing that slowly but surely so this schedule is going prepare us for our Big 12 play.”

On matching up on defense:
“[Samantha Prahalis] is a fantastic point guard and she is a senior. She plays with a great deal of confidence. A lot of miles differentiate between her and Morgan [Hook]. Prahalis made key baskets. I thought we made it hard for her. I thought she really had to work for it, but she didn't really get much easy tonight. But she made key baskets. I think she missed only two shots the whole night. She is the real deal obviously, I thought for the most part we made it pretty difficult on her but she is a good player.”

On production from the post players:
“I think Jo [Joanna McFarland] had 16 [rebounds] by herself. So that is quite a heroic effort there and something I hope she understand she can do against a lot of teams.

“I think we can expect and we have to expect more post production from our inside guys, particularly just scoring baskets. We have to get in there and finish or get fouled and get to the free throw line.”

On battling back from behind:
“We had to dig, and that's tough. It is tough even for a veteran team to have to climb from behind the whole time. It is a double whammy for a really young team, but again I think that's why we grow up from this. That is why we are in these situations and we will figure out it is a lot easier to play from ahead.”

On progression with a young team:
“I felt like there were several possessions in the first half where [Nicole Griffin] watched the guards play and did not take advantage of her defender who was not doing much at all. That is youth, that is lack of confidence, lack of experience and understanding how to assert your will into a game. We have a bunch of them who have to figure that out. Sometimes you get one or two going and then you focus on getting the other two going and then the first two go away. We have a lot of things to fix and a lot of things to work on and a lot of people to pull forward. But again that is nothing that we didn't expect.”

Oklahoma Sophomore Guard Morgan Hook
On her emotions following the loss:
“The feeling never is good when you lose, but I guess it doesn't hurt as bad as it did against Vanderbilt because we did show progress and we didn't give up like we did a week ago.”

Oklahoma Sophomore Guard Nicole Griffin
On progressing from this game:
“The other games in the beginning of the season I didn't play that well. I wasn't aggressive enough and I feel like I got a lot better this game. We've been doing a lot of stuff in practice that's been helping me with that. I feel like it's a good start and that, this year, I'm one of the people that we need to look for and I just have to produce in the paint.”

On making a difference inside:
“I think that comes with this just being aware and being aggressive. So I think that I got a lot better with that today.”

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Ohio State Head Coach Jim Foster
On better his guard and Prahalis' play:
“Sam (Prahalis) played like a senior. She used all that experience at the end.”

On what to do when a team is coming back on you like that:
“Get some stops and score some baskets. If you lose focus, you are not going to win the game. You need some key stops because you can't just to hope to out-score them. I like aspects of our defense. We ran into some screens. We were like screen magnets.”

On his team's attitude:
“I think this team is resilient. I don't think a big lead would matter. I just think we are a different kind of team. We are not playing a traditional style. As a result it is not easy to figure it out at first. “

Ohio State Junior Guard Tayler Hill
On her strategy to protect the lead at the end of the game:
“I think just slowing it down and keeping my composure. Taking the right shot, and keeping an eye on the shot clock were my main strategies.” It was essential to get Samantha Prahalis off the bench. She is the biggest part of our team. She is our leader.”

On her thoughts on OU's team:
“They are good. I think they have a good coaching staff also. They are a guard-oriented team but I think they work the ball inside-out well. We could not fall asleep. If you looked away, their guards were coming off a screen. I think we had to be focused tonight. They played like a zone but there was kind of a match up on Sam and I. We just need to move the ball. I think the young players need to learn when to shoot. It will come along. We are only seven games into the season.”

Ohio State Senior Guard Samantha Prahalis
On what she was thinking when she was sitting on the bench waiting to come back in:
“Just play and finish the game. We had a lead. So we just wanted to finish out the game. You want to be aggressive but you don't want to be too aggressive. You want to let things flow. When I got the ball I wanted to pass it around a little and see my shot before I took a shot. It was a good team win. This is a hard environment to play in. This was a good team we were playing against. It was good to play this well on the road.”

On what she thought of the guard match-up :
“Their guards can shoot from the outside. They are also good off the dribble. On defense we had to stay focused with the guard-to-guard screens. On offense we just wanted things to flow, because our guards are our strength as well. We just wanted to be aggressive.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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