Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU vs. Iowa State Postgame Quotes
January 20, 2013 | Cowgirl Basketball
Jan. 20, 2013
OSU Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening Statement
"I'm very proud of our basketball team and the way we competed for 40 minutes. A lot of people made major contributions, whether it was ofensively, defensively, or rebounding the basketball. I loved the fact that we had five people in double figures. We got a great boost off the bench from Kendra Suttles and Morgan Toben, and we've been desperately needing that. I think that really helped us in the ball game. I thought that, defensively, this was as good of a performance as we've had in a long time. Not only how we guarded, but how we stayed to the scout and knew where shooters were. They had an off day. They're a great basketball team and they have some great players. It was just our day."
On the great defense leading to transition opportunities
"The defense definitely turned into some transition. We hadn't run the ball as much lately. It was good to see Tiffany Bias go out and have some fun. Twelve points, 11 assists, two turnovers, and three steals. That's more than my career numbers were."
On the importance of playing hard the whole game
"I think it was important. Just learning how to play 40 minutes, we hadn't done that. Even in the games that we won, we had seven or eight minute stretches where we didn't score, or we were fouling and sending somebody to the free throw line. Success leads to success. We needed to learn how to play hard for that long."
On the importance of the bench play with Toni Young in foul trouble
"You don't ever want to see a player like Toni Young go to the bench like that, but that's the sign of a good team, when someone comes in and takes up the slack. Kendra (Suttles) came in and we didn't miss a beat. Morgan Tobin came in and played well. I thought that it did us a lot of good to be able to rest Liz (Donahoe) and Brittney Martin a little bit, and let them get their wind. It seemed like they always came back and hit a shot after we did that. What those two did for us off the bench was very crucial in the game."
Point Guard Tiffany Bias
On the defense
“I think that we really pushed and worked hard in practice. They're all three shooters so we had to get out there and dribble. I think we really got out there and executed our defense. We played team ball tonight. “
“It set the tone of the game. At the beginning of the game Lindsay had great post defense so I think it got us all pumped up and just ready to play. I know when someone gets a ball stop or just knocks it away we get excited.”
On the run in the beginning of the second half
“I don't think we noticed. Coach just told us that we went on a 15-0 run and it didn't even seem like that. I think we were just having so much fun playing that we didn't even notice. I guess we were just on fire. We really played well today and executed. We really played the style of ball that we wanted to play.”
On this being a statement game
“This was a big respect game and I think we game out focused and ready to play. We executed out plays and I think that we should get the respect that we deserve. I think it was a big statement game for us.“
On the crowd
“It's great to have that much support. They see us interacting and getting excited and getting pumped up for big plays and our teammates and it gets the crowd into it too. It's always nice to have all that support and that loudness still when you're up by 20.”
Keeping the pedal down for the entire game
“I think our first game at home we weren't really that focused and we let that lead go. I think re really regained our focused and learned to finish a game. Our team is maturing fast and we're really learning to read each other. I think that keeping that intensity and excitement is important and I think we did a good job of that today.”
On playing without Toni Young
“Our whole team can play and our whole team can score so that's nice. Even if she does get into foul trouble, we have someone come off the bench who can pick up her slack and still lead the team. For Toni to go down its okay because we still have our whole team. “
On distributing the ball more and getting better looks
“I've learned to slow down and not go a hundred miles per hour ever second. If you just read more for a second you'll find better shots so you don't take a wild shot. I'm not all about points so if I see a person open in front of me I'd rather have them get an easy layup.
Forward Liz Donohoe
On the flow of the game
“We just got into a flow. We were having fun. She [Tiffany Bias] was distributing the ball to all of us and everyone was scoring. If one person wasn't open then we'd pass it to another and someone else would score. “
On Tiffany Bias' game
“People have to guard her and try and stop her first and then that gets the wings open. She had great court vision and she's a great point guard and her going in and driving opens it up for us.”
Iowa State Head Coach Bill Fennelly
Opening statement
"Obivously, we just got totally beat up. Oklahoma State was great. It was by far the worst we've played all year. Hallie Christofferson was the only person who showed up today. When you do that against a top-20 team on the road, you're going to get beat badly. OSU was great and was very physical with us. We didn't handle it well. You have to make shots, and we couldn't make any. They were by far a better team today. I'm certainly disappointed that we didn't give a better effort."
On ISU's defense struggling over the course of the game
"Our defense has been pretty solid all year. When you're not making baskets offensively though, it's going to hurt you. The play that turned the momentum of the game was the over-and-back that one of our kids chased down but got knocked back to OSU. They ended up hitting a three and knocking us down. It just seemed like we couldn't stop the bleeding from there. With our team playing like that, I don't care who we play. We aren't going to win. It was a great performance by a really good OSU team."
On the mentality of the team being down a majority of the game
"We've been down before. We were only down ten at halftime, so we were still in the game. We wanted to hang around, but we came out in the second half with some missed opportunities. It went from ten to 18 just like that. The flow of the game offensively for them was better. Their offensive efficiency to start the second half was really good. It took us eight minutes to score in the second half, which makes people not want to shoot. People start to not want the ball. We had a lot of that going on today. We're not good enough to make things up and be creative off the bounce. You have to give credit to OSU though because they were extremely physical with us. It's not a performance we would have expected from our team."
On the game plan going into the game
"We told our players that they're going to play five players who can score the ball. We wanted to take away transition points and offensive rebounding opportunities. They had a couple of kids come off the bench and score, but it was their main five who came out and scored the ball. We can't give them all those shots that they want. Offensively though, we were completely inept. You can't put that much strain on your defense over time. You can't keep begging your defense to keep making stops when you're on the road against a good team. Today, we just couldn't get it done."
