Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State vs. Wichita State Postgame Quotes
March 18, 2012 | Cowgirl Basketball
March 18, 2012
Oklahoma State Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening statement:
"This was a nice win for our team. Wichita State, I'd like to compliment them on having a great season. They have some really good players and they're really athletic. (Haleigh) Lankster has been hurt, and I know that affected their game. You feel for any kid that plays hurt this time of year, and I just want to recognize they've had a great year. We beat a good team today, and I thought we played pretty well. We played a lot better defensively than we did against Central Arkansas. I thought our players stepped up and really met the challenge and did a good job. We guarded very athletic guards and were smart about it, and we had some people step up and have big games again. (Tiffany Bias and Lindsey Keller) are Wichita-area kids and Kansas kids, so I know this game meant a lot to them."
On protecting the ball:
"I thought we did, but what we struggled at times (when) we had too many deflections on passes. That didn't lead to be as good as we need to be offensively. When you get to this time of year and you only have 11 turnovers and you make sure you get a shot at the basket every time down, you have a shot to be successful. I didn't really think we did anything wrong when we blew the 20-point lead, but we just didn't make shots. That's the purpose of the zone (defense) sometimes is to force you to shoot it from the perimeter, and we were 5-20 from three. They packed it in and said 'Shoot the three,' and we just didn't make some shots, so I think that's why the lead disappeared on us. That makes an old man older and gray hair and all that, but the kids responded back and got some good stops and ran the floor and scored in transition, despite not shooting very well."
On the defense:
"I thought we played really well in the first half defensively. We use terminology where we squeeze picks and then got underneath and did a better job and closed out after that. Our players did a good job of listening to the game plan and executing that. I didn't think, until later in the game, we gave them many open looks. There wasn't many open shots at the basket. When you force people to shoot from the perimeter with a hand in their face and it's contested, it's usually going to be where you're successful."
Guard Tiffany Bias
On if she plays harder facing teams from Kansas:
"Every game I come out hard, but I think there's that extra boost when you play a team from your home town, especially since you're a Kansas kid playing at Oklahoma State. I was excited to play, especially because it's Wichita and that's where I'm from, so it was a very exciting game for me."
On Toni Young:
"Toni can jump. You just have to throw it up there and she'll go it. We need that from Toni, so it's good that she's stepping up and she's showing she can play like she always has."
Forward Lindsey Keller
On extending the lead after Wichita State cut it to four:
"You just have to slow down a little bit and make sure you execute plays and finish plays and getting stops on defense. That's when you don't want to get all hyped up all of a sudden and let them catch back up. It was good for us to slow down and execute."
On extra motivation facing a team from Kansas:
"It's just like Tiffany said, you want to play hard for every game, but it's that home town, a lot of people where you're from are watching, and you just want to make them proud. You do find a little bit of extra for it, you really do."
