Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU vs. Texas Postgame Quotes
January 02, 2014 | Cowgirl Basketball
Jan. 2, 2014
OSU Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening statement
"It's always nice to get your opener in conference play. It wasn't always pretty, but we told our players there would be games in Big 12 play where they would have to just grind it out, and tonight was one of those games. At the end of the game, I thought we stepped up and executed. Players made big shots at the right time. We also stressed that a lot of games would be won at the free throw line in conference play and that held true tonight."
On Tiffany Bias' progression this season
"She has played well, but she thinks she could have been playing better. However, she sets her standards quite high. I think she realized she is in her senior year and she wants to play well and for the team to do well. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, but she looked pretty relaxed and confident tonight. I thought it was the best she has played in a long time. Not that she hasn't been playing well--she has--but it was at a different level tonight. She hit big shot after big shot, did a good job defensively, executed at the offensive end and I think she showed why she is an All-American."
On the school-record 12-0 start
"It's definitely something to be proud of. These kids have worked hard and they deserve something like this. They have beaten some good teams along the way. They beat Michigan State and Georgia Tech, so it isn't like they have played a soft schedule. Then, on top of that, they beat a very physical Texas team tonight, who when they went to Tennessee, was down by four with about five minutes to go. Texas has played competitively with some of the beat teams in the country. It's a great accomplishment."
Point Guard Tiffany Bias
On winning the first Big 12 game of the season
"We expected it to be a battle. That's what Big 12 play is all about. We came out on a good run at the beginning, then backed off a little bit, but we picked it back up as a team."
On LaShawn Jones
"She's been great for us this year. We're really going to need her. She knows that and is strong battling in there. It's something to get used to battling against those 6-4 girls. It's a little change of pace. I think it's just adjusting and adapting during the game and finishing shots over them."
"This was the best start in our school's history. We've always struggled starting off our season well. I think that our preseason really set us up with big momentum which will really help because Big 12 play is physical. That's just how it is. Our team is doing a lot better. We have good team chemistry. We can work together. We have all the pieces. We're going to be very hard to stop. We proved those two things tonight. Texas is a great team. It was a good challenge for us and a good win."
Forward Liz Donohoe
On battling a team Texas' size
"It's definitely a big change when we hit Big 12 play. The girls are bigger, stronger and faster. They're very aggressive, so we have to match that with them. That's the Big 12. You have to get used to it."
On the importance of getting off to a good start in Big 12 games
"It's always important to get off to a good start. In the past we did not, and we did not finish the game. Those first five minutes in the first and second halves are very important to get our momentum going."
On the physicality of tonight's game
"It was very physical. I know with the new rule changes, there are going to be a lot of fouls called. We have to be smarter about that; not fouling and the physicality. It's very physical."
Texas Head Coach Karen Aston
Opening Statement
"First of all, I thought it was a competitive game, a little bit ugly. It looked like the first game of the Big 12, where both teams were sort of feeling each other out. It was a little bit slower pace than both teams play, and I think that was just trying to figure out possessions and the nerves probably of the first Big 12 game. I thought the significant difference in the game was our quick shooting in the second half. It led to what I would just consider a turnover. Even though our turnovers were down and we did a good job basically taking care of the ball, what I tried to explain to them was that the quick shots might as well have been turnovers. And I thought Tiffany Bias was probably the difference in the game."
On Tiffany Bias
"She knows the answers that point guards are supposed to know. Who to get the ball to at the right time, when to take shots at the right time. She's a playmaker. I think the significant thing with her is she knows how to read defenses and when to take a particular shot. That puts a lot of heat on your defense all the time. She puts pressure on your defense every single possession."
On being outrebounded
"It was significant when Nneka (Enemkpali) got her fourth foul. That was very significant for us because she's such a terrific offensive rebounder, and I really thought we lost all of our offensive rebounding when during that stretch when she was out of the game. Also, we just had to try some combinations that were, to say the least, very inexperienced."
Struggles from beyond the arc
"I think it was an off night. I think we're better than that. We rushed some shots, shot them too quick. I think we're a better shooting team than that. Neither team shot the ball very well. They're a good shooting team. I thought both defenses were good. The biggest differences in the game were the plays Bias made and their timely offensive rebounds. The two there at the end that Donohoe got--when we'd cut it to four or five--she got a loose ball rebound, and then she got the over-the-back call with inside position. Those two possessions were pretty critical."
