OU-Baylor Postgame Quotes

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Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale

Opening statement:

“I loved our toughness. I loved our team unity. I loved our attention to detail. I loved the intentional way we played. I couldn't be more proud of our team.”

On what the means for the team:

“Yeah, for this team, we are so young. We try not to talk about that a whole lot because I don't want them thinking they're not supposed to do things like this, but it's a significant step forward especially the way we played the first time there (in Waco). It's night and day. Our approach, our mentality, you could just see the growth as much as anything. Obviously, the win is huge but regardless of what the final score would have been, the way we handled ourselves tonight was the way Oklahoma team is supposed to handle themselves. I was just so proud of our growth. We had a freshman point guard out there battling the whole night. We had one senior on the floor and she was unbelievable tonight. That's what a team is. You take those different parts, you screw them together and you become. I felt like tonight was a becoming for us.”

On how they kept Niya Johnson in check:

“We did a much better job of getting back in defensive transition, but you know part of that is not turning the basketball over. It's really hard to stop her in transition when you turn it over and giving her the channel, which we did a lot in Waco. We limited that. We had three in the first half and nine for the game. That alone corralled them. Gabbi (Ortiz) did a much better job of picking her up deeper and playing with a little bit more cushion than she did last time. She's a really good point guard. Johnson is a really good point guard. She is seasoned, she has played, and she has that experience. Gabbi is a freshman and I thought the learning curve in that for Gabbi in that two-week period was extreme.”

On the message at the under four timeout before they closed strong:

“You know, it wasn't really different than it had been all night. We reiterated the game plan, sticking to it. We talked about how we could score offensively. We wanted to spread the floor, let Gioya (Carter) attack a little bit. We wanted to get Kay Kay (Kaylon Williams) on the block. When they took those things away it opened up some perimeter options and that's where Sharane (Campbell-Olds) and Stu (Peyton Little) hit their threes. What I loved was that at the timeout we were undeterred. Our facial expressions weren't different, our demeanor wasn't different, the way they were communicating with each other was not different and there was a sense of urgency that they played with in this game from start to finish.”

On Kaylon William's performance:

“Kay Kay grew up right in front of us. That was a big stage. I'm glad she got the experience on a big stage. There are going to be more ahead of us down the road here. I just thought…she missed her first two or three shots of the game and it didn't affect her. That's big. It's really big. Down the stretch, not only did she score but she rebounded, she made free throws, she made plays and then ViVi (Vionise Pierre-Louis) came in to spell her when she had four fouls and ViVi did a great job. She was blocking shots, getting rebounds, and she had a finish of her own.”

RS Sophomore Guard Peyton Little

On her thoughts on how her team played:

“Yeah, it was a total team win. We were excited to come out and play this game. We wanted to come out and compete and I think we did that. It was so fun going to battle with these girls and I wouldn't trade it for anything.”

Senior Guard Sharane Campbell-Olds

On everything seeming to go right for her in the last five minutes:

“I was just into the game. I just really wasn't thinking about anything; just playing with my team. Seeing them get excited gave me energy and it bounced right back off of me back to them. It was just being in the moment with my team.”

On getting a win over Baylor:

“It's exciting to beat a team that I haven't beat since coming to Oklahoma. But I wouldn't say it's more about them; I feel like it's more about us. I know when I played them, it was always something that we could have done better and I think tonight we played hard. We played together and that's what helped us get through this.”

RS Junior Kaylon Williams

On settling into the game:

“I remember coming out of every timeout and my teammates just reiterated, 'Hey, it's OK. Next play, next play.' That's all they kept telling me that and I think that helped a ton. They know that I had a problem with staying in a possession and I remember locking eyes with Sharane (Campbell-Olds) and she just told me, 'Move on to the next one.' I was determined to put that ball in the hoop for my teammates because they were working their butts off on defense and then they were scoring and I just wanted to help them.”

Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey

On last minutes of game:

“I thought that when we went up six that we let them score too easily. Sune (Agbuke) fouling out, Sune is our best defensive post player. I was trying to guard them with a freshman and a sophomore, Niya (Johnson) is a sophomore, and they just took it right at us. Couple of inbounds, we were not ready. Imani (Wright) got scored on quite often on inbound plays; she just was not alert.”

On clearing the bench:

“Again, this game did not start out too good. You saw me clear the bench early and when you win the league this early sometimes this can happen with youth. Give Oklahoma credit.”

“This bunch has played awhile. I have done that quite often this year. The first bunch did not have any energy or enthusiasm; so give someone else a shot. And they did an excellent job. We were down 12-to-2 and the second bunch and did well; they did really well.”

On the post play:

“Post play was the difference in the game. You can print that. Post play was the difference in the game. Post defense was terrible. Sune (Agbuke) fouling out, she needed to quit following. You have to be way more composed. You are a senior you have to have you down the stretch and the difference in the game was postgame.”

On the difference between game tonight and in Waco:

“We scored in all positions in Waco. That is what happens when you play at home. Give Oklahoma credit; this game meant a great deal to them.”

Losing Alexis Prince on the technical foul:

“It did. I missed the technical; I did not see it. I had gone down to the end of the bench to say something to a post player and I had no idea. They said she through the ball slant, I really do not know. But yes, it hurts when Sune (Agbuke) and Alexis (Prince) both come out.”

On shooting too early:

“All night long from start to finish, yes.”

Nina Davis, Sophomore, Forward

On the outcome of the game:

“Honestly we just didn't come ready to play tonight from the start. We started out the game lackadaisical and that just can't happen this part of the season. We knew they were undefeated on their home court and we knew that coming into this game it was going to be a challenge. I just feel we weren't ready to play. We knew the game was going to be aggressive and physical. Give Oklahoma credit. They just came out and I just feel they wanted it more than us.”

On lessons learned from the loss to Oklahoma:

“I guess just to focus more. I think we kind of got, I guess you could say, we kind of got relaxed saying, 'We just won the Big 12,' you know? Everybody [was] kind of relaxed and laidback and we knew coming into this game that was something we couldn't do, but we kind of did it anyways. And we paid for it. So down the stretch we have two conference games left. We just got to come focused and try not to let this happen again.”