OU-West Virginia Postgame Quotes

January 04, 2015 | Women's Basketball

By: Athletics Communications

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Oklahoma Quotes

OU vs. West Virginia

Jan. 4, 2015

Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale

Opening Comment:

“Every win in the Big 12 is a great win. You have to take care of your home floor and we did that today. I'm just proud of the poise that our players showed. You could tell that we played a very challenging pre-conference schedule because we didn't come unwound, which we easily could have. We had a lot of guys step up and make plays at very timely junctions in the game. It was just a really good win and a good way to start conference play.”

On Gioya Carter's performance:

“She just carried over the momentum that she created for herself in the Yale game, It's all about tempo for her, playing at the right speed, slowing down enough to ascertain what the defense is doing and then attack it. She is a tremendous athlete so once she sees them take a position and she can put them in a cage, often times in her young career she has gone too fast to be able to do that. She is just in a really good flow right now and playing with a lot of poise, a lot of confidence and defensively keeping herself on the floor. That's part of it too. Not fouling and being more disciplined where she can stay on the floor for longer.”

On if having a lot of speed on the floor changed things:

“T.T. [T'ona Edwards] was terrific. Every time she came in she made something happen. I do think that was a little bit of a turning point. I feel like we had that in our pocket. We can go to that if we need to go to that. We can do that. I had every intention of getting Lanesia [Williams] back in the second half. Stu [Peyton Little] was doing some really good things in that situation.”

On if her bench was the difference in this game:

“Some of the things that happen, when things don't look very good on the outside, are kind of the jewels that save you down the stretch. While KayKay [Kaylon Williams] and Sharane [Campbell] were not producing, McKenna Treece and ViVi [Vionise Pierre-Louis] were getting minutes. Gioya got a lot of minutes. LaNesia Williams got a lot of minutes, Those guys have grown and up and they're not through growing yet. We have a long way to go. They have a sense of themselves that they wouldn't have had perhaps had these guys not had some tough games and some tough moments. In that thing that doesn't look very pretty to the outside world are some seeds that can prove beneficial and I think that revealed itself tonight. We have a lot of weapons and some that weren't used much tonight but will be needed in the future. I think the key for us is to try to maintain some consistency with that. We have talked about that, you and I, on the air about finding that rotation and having everybody feel comfortable with the minutes they get and the purpose they have on the floor when they're in.”

On how important it is for Kaylon and Sharane to have good second halves:

“Well, I felt like the big breakthrough for KayKay was … in the second half she fumbled three post entries. She just didn't get the job done that she needed to get done. Prior to this holiday break she probably would have been done. Mentally, she would have been finished. She was not finished tonight. She said 'I'm going to do it again. Throw it to me again.' These guys showing great, great faith, great, great, trust. She fumbled two or three in a row. Gioya said 'No, I'm throwing it right back to you and you're going to score.' It changed everything. Once you experience that, it is so easy for folks on the outside to say 'Just catch that ball, just make that shot'. Well, have you ever been out there trying to do it? It's harder than it looks sometimes. Then all of those demons start growing in your head when you don't do it. Kaylon's courage to say 'Give it to me again' was huge. She was six of seven from that point forward. She was six of seven. She hadn't attempted until that period in the second half. I just think her growth mentally, her view of her self, is still a work in progress but she took a big step tonight.”

Oklahoma Player Quotes
OU vs. WVU
Jan. 4, 2015

Sophomore Guard Gioya Carter

On what she feels like on the court with more experience:

“I just feel like I'm slowing down more. Before, I would just get the ball and try to make something happen instead of just throwing it and looking at my defender and seeing if they are giving me a lane or giving me a jump shot.”

On if it feels like it has been a long time coming to settle in:

“Well, I think that my teammates gave me confidence – just telling me, 'You know what you're doing, just slow down.' Them telling me that really gave me confidence. Just knowing that they believe in me allowed me to have confidence in myself.”

On if she feels like she has turned a corner the past couple of games:

“Yes. Like I've said before, I'm just slowing down and I have more confidence. My teammates are giving me more confidence.”

On what it feels like to come out the other side of troubles so many young players deal with:

“It feels good. I know I'm far away from where I can be but just seeing the light makes me feel more comfortable when I'm out there and my teammates make me feel more comfortable.”

Senior Guard Sharane Campbell-Olds

On emerging from struggles:

“I don't want to say I was struggling, it's just attacking; getting back to what I normally do. I haven't been getting to the free throw line like I have in previous years. Just getting back to my normal self – I wouldn't say it's a struggle – I've been really passive the past couple of games and I just need to get back to getting more in.”

West Virginia Head Coach Mike Carey
Opening comment:

“Give Oklahoma credit. They outhustled us to the ball. They play a lot of people and we just don't play a lot of people. I told my players in there, I'd like to stand in here and yell, but I really can't because when you're playing 38 or 40 minutes it's going to affect your shots and your defense. It's going to affect everything. We have to do a better job getting some other players in there and a better job recruiting. It's a shame. We lost five seniors, but we have people coming off the bench just not playing hard, and that makes Bria Holmes and Linda Stepney and Averee Fields play all those minutes. It's not fair to them, but that's the situation we're in right now.”

On keeping his players fresh:

“All the games we've done the same thing. We would get a lead in the second half and really fight for the lead and play hard. Last year I had three seniors coming off the bench, and we could keep fresh people in and it wasn't a big drop off from our starters to our subs. That's to Oklahoma's credit. They rotate a lot of people and keep them fresh in there, and I thought that was the difference in the second half.”

On Gioya Carter:

“I'm happy we were able to help her find something, but she played hard. We saw her on film and expected her to start. We really did after watching the last two or three basketball games. She played well, as good as any guard they had. We know she's left handed, and she did some jump-shot step-throughs, and she plays hard and with energy. Any player who plays with energy and plays with heart is going to have some big games.”

On his team's offense:

“We just didn't shoot the ball well tonight. We had a lot of good shots, but we just didn't make any of them. Everything is a little bit short, and that's my job to try to develop a couple of more girls to play hard. I've been trying to since July, trying to get a couple of them to play harder, so I don't know if it's going to happen, but I thought Tyara (Warren) came in and played hard and gave us something. She's a freshman and came in and played hard. I don't mind if they make mistakes and play hard, but give Oklahoma credit. They hit the threes in the first half and we did a better job of staying close in the second half but they started driving on us.”

Junior Guard Bria Holmes
On what Oklahoma was doing to contain WVU:

“I feel like we weren't attacking on our offense like we normally do. We have a whole new team this year, so it's a lot different when you aren't playing with girls you're normally playing with for the last two years. It's kind of tough, but it's something you just have to overcome.”

On having to play all 40 minutes:

“My body is wear and tear right now, but it's conference play right now so I just have to suck it up and so do my teammates. It's definitely a lot of minutes.”