Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech Postgame Quotes
January 02, 2013 | Cowgirl Basketball
Jan. 2, 2013
OSU Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening Statement
“Give Texas Tech a lot of credit for being down 17-3 and keeping great composure and hanging in there and playing. It's a disappointing loss for us. Every game you play at home is very crucial. When we got a lead early I felt we missed a lot of easy shots that we normally hit. We didn't make many good decisions with the basketball that we needed to make. I'm proud of our kids for battling back and taking the lead. Then it becomes a grind and we didn't get some of the stops that we needed to get. In the last five or six minutes of the game it seemed like they stepped up and hit really big shots or we had a defensive mistake that left someone open. I told our players that this league is a journey. It is not a sprint. It doesn't get any easier. We go down to Baylor to play probably the best team in the country. What matters is now we have to go get a road game because we let this home game escape.”
On Tifffany Bias' night
“It doesn't come down to that one play. There were a lot of times we were up 17-3 and we made some bad decisions or missed some easy shots. The game never comes down to one play. If she didn't play the way she played then we wouldn't have been in the basketball game, both offensively and defensively. I'm very proud of her. I thought she's one that showed she'd been in this league before and played with great experience.”
On Brittney Martin's game
“Brit's going to be a fine player. Every freshman goes through that. It's a learning processes and its learning to play within the Big 12. She's going to be fine. She struggled a little bit. As did many of our other players. We just thought that by putting Kamri [Anderson] in that it put another ball handler into the scope of things.”
On Toni Young's early foul trouble
“It's a huge factor when Toni goes to the bench. It's our leading scorer and our leading rebounder. Its somebody that's explosive inside. She leads us in offensive rebounds as well. Toni's got to be on the floor for us. We're not deep enough or talented enough when she goes to the bench to cover that. I don't think many teams are when they lose their top post player. It's a situation where she's got to be smart and play aggressive defense, but not make any stupid fouls and make sure she stays on the floor for us because she's a player.”
On the game as a whole
“We didn't execute very well. I told the kids that we're all in it together. I look back and I wish I would have done a lot of things different in calling sets and getting us into some things offensively. I take a lot of the responsibly on this. We had some kids that had open looks and we normally hit those shots and we didn't hit it tonight. While the [Texas Tech} stepped up and hit shots. They've gone through a difficult time with allowing those kids to grow and get older. All of those kids have played and started for four years now and they know what it's like to play in the Big 12 and go on the road. I juts think they're experience and athleticism caused us some trouble and they looked like they've been through it before and we didn't handle some things very well.”
Guard Tiffany Bias
On her 27-point night
“I made a lot of mistakes that I shouldn't have as a point guard. We didn't have as great of a night as we should have. We didn't make easy shots and that kind of hurt us. It's not a great game to me because points don't matter; I'd rather have the whole team balanced and a lot of the team in double-figures. I think we made a lot of little mistakes that we usually don't make and that hurt us. It's a learning lesson and we'll go back and fix it tonight or tomorrow.”
On Texas Tech's Defense
“I think they stuck with the press. They saw it rattled us a little bit and they just kept pushing and kept pressuring and we didn't adjust well, which is not like us. Usually adjust and calm down. That's just one of those things where it's a focus thing. We'll work on it and we'll get better for the next game.”
On bouncing back for their first loss since last season Big 12 Tournament
“We've all played basketball for a long time so a loss is a loss and you move on to the next game. We're going to scout that game and just be ready to play. You can't dwell on this game too long. We didn't play as well as we wanted too. The next game, we'll be ready.”
On learning from a loss
“You never want to learn from a loss, but that's the way it ended up. I think we have a lot to work on and we'll get it figured out for the next game. We'll be fine.”
Texas Tech Head coach Kristy Curry
On the three-pointer that gave Tech the lead
"I thought a couple of possessions earlier that we just wanted her to catch and shoot, and she finally did when it mattered most. I was happy for her. It was a big shot, and it takes guts to hit that shot. She hit it, and she hits it all the time. I thought there were a lot of plays throughout the second half that were really critical."
On the big road win
"Anytime you go on the road in this league and still win, it's important. It's only one game, and this league is a marathon, not a sprint. At 12:01, we have to let this go. It doesn't matter tomorrow morning, but it will matter in the end. We have to take care of business. Being mature enough to handle tonight will be important."
On containing Toni Young
"I think our No. 1 worry, defensively, was that we just want to be disruptive. I thought we were able to keep them off balance a little bit. When she did catch, we made it difficult for her and tried to run a second person at her. They're much more than her. Bias is so good. At halftime, she was really hurting us. They're so physical and so good on the offensive glass. Their big four and Suttles are really seasoned and really good. I like their balance, but tonight, we just had a little more balance."
Guard Casey Morris
On how the Lady Raiders were able to come back
"We've been talking about maturity all year, and I think that was part of it. It was about keeping our composure and making sure that just because we get down we know that the game is a game of runs. We have to make sure we stay positive and keep pushing. It's a lot easier when you have five leaders on the floor instead of just one. I think that works to our advantage."
Guard Chynna Brown
On how the Raiders were able to come back
"We held our composure, and we've been in situations like that, being down in the first half and having to play hard and aggressive. It's not something new to us. We always know how to handle it."
