Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU vs. Texas A&M
January 25, 2009 | Cowgirl Basketball
OSU Postgame Quotes
Coach Kurt Budke
“Well, obviously, the one concern we had with Megan (Byford) not out there is how we were going to match up inside and you really don't have to look into the stats to figure out why we lost this game tonight. It's disappointing, we felt like we had a chance to win on our home floor against a top 10 team. Gary is a great coach and the players are great players, but I felt like we had an opportunity that we might have let slip away tonight.”
On Megan Byford's injury status
“I don't know when Megan is going to be back, so it's just up to the other ones to step up and do just a little bit more. Obviously we didn't have enough people in double figures tonight.”
“It was pretty much a typical (Texas) A&M-Oklahoma State game. Just hard fought; we knew it was going to be in the fifties. If we don't foul at the end then it's a four or five point game just kind of like we thought it would be. It's just disappointing. The kids worked really hard and we just didn't finish it tonight.”
“They're a little deeper than we are, a little bigger than we are and I think that was the difference in the game.”
“You look at our three losses and they're to the toughest three teams in this league, but it can snowball on you and the last thing we want to do is go on the road for two in a row, but that's what we are and that's what we have to do.”
Forward Shaunte' Smith
“Every time we play them it always comes down to the last minute or two. That's the best defense we've played since the Big 12 started and they always have that tough, hard-nosed defense so it was a tough game.”
“Any time we had a run they always had an answer. We would go up by one then they would get up by two. We never had a complete stop where we could get up for a while.”
Guard Taylor Hardeman
“Anytime teams deny you it's going to be hard to create your own thing especially when they're up and under you. It's not so much they didn't fall; I wouldn't really blame it on the shooting.”
“You can't throw away the ball and I know we had some turnovers that shouldn't have happened but that's basketball, you have to live with it and just go on with it.”
“I can't believe we only missed four free throws. That's a positive because without that we wouldn't be in the game.”
Texas A&M Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game
“When you see the two of us play, it's not just beautiful chemistry and motion and all that pretty stuff, it's two of the hardest working teams you've ever seen. They were shorthanded today without (Megan) Byford and I think that hurt them a little, but give (Shyvon) Spears a lot of credit. I thought she did well in there.”
“Dr. Naismith forgot in his opening book that defense is a part of basketball, and if Dr. Naismith could have seen those two teams play defense, he would have been very proud of both teams.”
On trailing Oklahoma State at half
“The game might have been won in the first half. We played as poorly as we did and missed the shots that we did and we were two points down. That really gave us a lot of confidence going into the second half.”
On Big 12 road wins
“It's hard. When you can go on the road and win it's tough. It's like getting one and a half (wins) every time you get a road win. It's like losing one and a half when you lose a home game.”
On the atmosphere
“There had to be more than that (4,568 in attendance). Who's counting? There had to be because it sounded like 10,000! I absolutely love playing here. I just wish in 1963 when I got out of high school they would have noticed a 128-pound centerfielder and I didn't get one recruiting letter from Oklahoma State cause this was where I wanted to go.”
Forward Danielle Gant
“Well the first half we didn't come out ready to play and they did, so at halftime we made the adjustment we knew we had to do on (Andrea Riley) and we knew we had to do on their three-point shooters and so that's what we did on the defensive end.”
“It's very big. We lost two in a row so it was just a win-win situation. We couldn't lose this game so we just came out ready to play.”
Guard Takia Starks
On playing defense
“We just stayed consistent and playing our help side, that's our bread and butter and we stuck with that tonight and I think that contributed to our win.”
Coach Kurt Budke
“Well, obviously, the one concern we had with Megan (Byford) not out there is how we were going to match up inside and you really don't have to look into the stats to figure out why we lost this game tonight. It's disappointing, we felt like we had a chance to win on our home floor against a top 10 team. Gary is a great coach and the players are great players, but I felt like we had an opportunity that we might have let slip away tonight.”
On Megan Byford's injury status
“I don't know when Megan is going to be back, so it's just up to the other ones to step up and do just a little bit more. Obviously we didn't have enough people in double figures tonight.”
“It was pretty much a typical (Texas) A&M-Oklahoma State game. Just hard fought; we knew it was going to be in the fifties. If we don't foul at the end then it's a four or five point game just kind of like we thought it would be. It's just disappointing. The kids worked really hard and we just didn't finish it tonight.”
“They're a little deeper than we are, a little bigger than we are and I think that was the difference in the game.”
“You look at our three losses and they're to the toughest three teams in this league, but it can snowball on you and the last thing we want to do is go on the road for two in a row, but that's what we are and that's what we have to do.”
Forward Shaunte' Smith
“Every time we play them it always comes down to the last minute or two. That's the best defense we've played since the Big 12 started and they always have that tough, hard-nosed defense so it was a tough game.”
“Any time we had a run they always had an answer. We would go up by one then they would get up by two. We never had a complete stop where we could get up for a while.”
Guard Taylor Hardeman
“Anytime teams deny you it's going to be hard to create your own thing especially when they're up and under you. It's not so much they didn't fall; I wouldn't really blame it on the shooting.”
“You can't throw away the ball and I know we had some turnovers that shouldn't have happened but that's basketball, you have to live with it and just go on with it.”
“I can't believe we only missed four free throws. That's a positive because without that we wouldn't be in the game.”
Texas A&M Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Gary Blair
On the game
“When you see the two of us play, it's not just beautiful chemistry and motion and all that pretty stuff, it's two of the hardest working teams you've ever seen. They were shorthanded today without (Megan) Byford and I think that hurt them a little, but give (Shyvon) Spears a lot of credit. I thought she did well in there.”
“Dr. Naismith forgot in his opening book that defense is a part of basketball, and if Dr. Naismith could have seen those two teams play defense, he would have been very proud of both teams.”
On trailing Oklahoma State at half
“The game might have been won in the first half. We played as poorly as we did and missed the shots that we did and we were two points down. That really gave us a lot of confidence going into the second half.”
On Big 12 road wins
“It's hard. When you can go on the road and win it's tough. It's like getting one and a half (wins) every time you get a road win. It's like losing one and a half when you lose a home game.”
On the atmosphere
“There had to be more than that (4,568 in attendance). Who's counting? There had to be because it sounded like 10,000! I absolutely love playing here. I just wish in 1963 when I got out of high school they would have noticed a 128-pound centerfielder and I didn't get one recruiting letter from Oklahoma State cause this was where I wanted to go.”
Forward Danielle Gant
“Well the first half we didn't come out ready to play and they did, so at halftime we made the adjustment we knew we had to do on (Andrea Riley) and we knew we had to do on their three-point shooters and so that's what we did on the defensive end.”
“It's very big. We lost two in a row so it was just a win-win situation. We couldn't lose this game so we just came out ready to play.”
Guard Takia Starks
On playing defense
“We just stayed consistent and playing our help side, that's our bread and butter and we stuck with that tonight and I think that contributed to our win.”
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