Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU vs. West Virginia Postgame Quotes
January 04, 2014 | Cowgirl Basketball
Jan. 4, 2014
OSU Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening statement:
"Give West Virginia credit. They hung in there. They competed. They played hard the entire ball game. We definitely let one get away here. That hurts. You've got to hold serve on your home court. We made one field goal in the last eight minutes. We also had a chance to salt it away at the free throw line and we didn't do that. The majority of the games in this league, in tight games, are going to be decided at the free throw line and we had opportunities to do that. We didn't make shots. At the end of the game some people need to step up and make shots, and we didn't do that. West Virginia did, and give them credit for that. We quit making shots the last eight, eight and a half minutes. We didn't grind it out on the defensive end of the floor like we ought to. We gave up some easy shots. They just threw it inside and it seemed like they had some uncontested shots at the basket. When you're not scoring you've got to find another way to help your team, and instead of grinding it out and getting tougher I thought we got soft in the last five to six minutes."
On West Virginia:
"They're good. They're athletic. I don't know why that team isn't ranked. They're a top 10-15 team. They've got a lot of pieces to the puzzle. They've got a quality post inside that knows how to use her body inside. They've got guards that shoot the ball well. We shot the ball better from three tonight than we did inside. We just didn't make shots. We run a lot of things for our ones, twos and threes, and they didn't have a very good night tonight. They're good players. They'll just have to bounce back, handle this and get ready to go for Kansas State."
On what the team can take from the loss:
"I take one thing and one thing only. We have got to become a better practice team. Since December 26 we have not practiced with the intensity or the focus that we need to. We've been playing Russian roulette for the last two weeks on that. If you want to put complete games together in this league, you've got to be able to put complete practices together. If we learn from this and realize that we've got to do our work and be diligent on the practice floor then this loss doesn't go for not. It comes down on me. I've got to get us to where we're practicing better and executing. If you want to put 40 minutes together in this league, you've got to put together an hour and a half practice."
On missing 11 free throws:
"We won the Texas game at the free throw line. We lost the West Virginia game at the free throw line. There are so many games in this league that are going to be decided by two to three possessions. You've got to finish them off and we didn't."
Guard Tiffany Bias
On what happened down the stretch
"We just didn't finish. We didn't grind it out. We had a 10-point lead with five minutes to go and it's just one of those things. The momentum changed, we weren't stopping people and we weren't hitting our shots. That's what happens."
On the pace of the game - getting outscored 16-4 on fast break points
"It's just us getting back in transition. They were running out pretty good. They were sending four guards and leaking one out. I think especially when you have that disadvantage sometimes, it's just a little hard to get back, and we need to work on that. It's just one of those things. We should have gotten back, we should never get beat like that. Our defense is too good to get beat back like that. It's just something where we need to turn the page and go on to the next game."
On shooting struggles
"I think it was an off shooting night. Usually it's only one of us not hitting, but when you have multiple and it's not going down--it's just one of those things where we need to step up and hit those shots. We can't really dwell on excuses or anything like that, we just didn't hit them."
Center LaShawn Jones
On winning the rebounds but losing the game
"I think it was us not hitting shots. We take pride in our offense, and when we don't hit shots we don't go. When we don't score it just doesn't work for us."
On how tough playing in the lane was
"I didn't think that it was that tough. I just got caught sleeping a lot when I should have been down and ready. So they called some of the fouls."
On using the game going forward
"We just need to learn from the past, from what we've done. As long as we hit our shots and do our jobs, we are going to win as a team."
WVU Head Coach Mike Carey
Opening Statement:
“That was a great game. Oklahoma State's got a great team. They just kicked our butt on the glass and I though they out-hustled us for the majority of the game. They weren't hitting their shots and then we got hot for a little bit and made a couple of stops and started rebounding a little bit better. It was a great game. We hit a couple foul shots down the stretch and got the win. This is a big win for us on the road. We started out the season with two road games at Kansas and here so we're pretty happy going home 2-0 right now.”
On the struggle to get going:
“I was trying to find a combination. I couldn't find five people to play hard. Finally, I put Jess Harlee in at the four and I thought she helped us on the perimeter and got a couple steals and got us going a little bit. The other thing was when to bring Asya Bussie back in with her four fouls. I just felt if we kept it under 10 and I could get to the four minute mark we'd take out chances. Our girls showed a lot of heart. We were down big in the first half and we were down big in the second half and fought back. You have to give our girls a lot of credit also. “
On the pace of the game:
“The thing is, Oklahoma State sends four to the boards and that's why they had 22 offensive rebounds. If we could rebound we could get a lot of fast break points. When we were able to get the rebound we were able to get some numbers on the other side. We just have to do a better job because they pound the boards.”
On how well the girls battled:
“Our girls fought hard and didn't give up. It's very easy to when there's a great crowd and great atmosphere and they're playing well. They didn't shoot that well but they're playing hard and just pounding us on the boards and going to the foul line. I think they were shooting two with 12 minutes. They were just living at the foul line on us. We just kept hanging in there and hit a couple shots and made a couple stops and were able to get the win.”
On defeating a very good Oklahoma State team:
“We think we're a good team too and they're a very good team. In the Big 12, we went to Kansas and it was a battle. I think every game is going to be a battle in the Big 12. Oklahoma State is a very good team, well coached, runs a lot of sets and they're going to win a lot of basketball games. It's going to be a battle and I'm not looking forward to playing them again.”
