Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State Postgame Quotes
March 01, 2014 | Cowgirl Basketball
March 1, 2014
OSU Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening Statement
“You all can see why I'm losing hair, and it's going grey and all of that. We've had a habit sometimes this year of blowing leads, and it happened again tonight. We knew K-State wasn't going to go around, but we got a little sloppy with the basketball – had some bad possessions on both ends of the court, and before you know it, a 13-point lead had evaporated and we're down by four. I'm proud of the kids that they found a way to come back and win the basketball game. We just had a hunch to slap the press on and see what it does. We were not stopping them at the other end, so we might as well see if we can change the tempo or the flow of the game. We scored about six points in 15 or 20 seconds, somewhere in there. Some kids made some plays and made some free throws down near the end. It was a good win. We tied the most wins that we've had in Big 12 history, so that's something for us to be proud of. It's a step in the right direction. Three years ago we finished, I believe, seventh, and last year we finished fifth, and this ensures us of at least a tie for third. I'm proud of the progress that the kids have made, and where the program is going. It's nice to get a win on senior night. To send those three seniors out with a win is pretty special."
On Brittany Atkins stepping up
“You know, B.A. (Brittany Atkins) has been in a slump, and she'll tell you that, but what I'm proud of her for is – there's been no one in the gym more than her. She's been going in everyday shooting a ton of shots and working on her game. You've got two choices when things are going bad: You can feel sorry for yourself, or you can go to work. B.A. has gone to work, and to see her snap out of it, be so key in a win like this, I'm happy for her. Every freshman goes through struggles in this league. It's like a rollercoaster for freshman in this league. She's been on this, and today she's going up, so I'm just proud of her because she's paid her dues and put in a lot of time. She deserved to break out like this.”
On using the press despite rarely practicing it
“We just weren't stopping them at the other end. We were drowning on the other end, so I thought we needed to try something else. It worked out. It could have been where they kicked it out and hit a three in the corner, and you look stupid doing it. It worked out for us. I think it changed the tempo of the game. It definitely got us back on top. Once we got the two-point lead, did they tie us or did we stay on top after that? There are not many teams in this league that press at all. Really there's no one that does it. It's something that people don't work on very much. I wish we had the depth and numbers to do it more often, but it was a huge factor in the game today.”
On Brittany Martin's performance in past couple of games
“We're trying to call her number a little bit more. Coach (Bill) Annan has spent some time with her in the gym on just getting in more shots, the type of shots you get in a game. For the two Britts, some extra work has paid off for them. That's a great night – 13 and 13 and four steals is a great night.”
Guard Brittany Atkins
On going into a full-court press
“I liked pressing too. Especially after the first deal, everybody just got hyped. I knew we had to keep pressing them and get more steals and more points."
On the perimeter defense struggling the last two games
“I think there were some changes we had to make in practice. We had to make some switches of who's going to go where, who is going to switch and who is going to hedge. We just had to make some changes."
On what felt good for her today
“It felt really good. I felt like I've been in a slump lately. Yesterday, Liz Donohoe walked in and told me I just had to quit thinking about it and just shoot, to just do what you do and play the game. Even before the game, Diana Omozee told me 'You've got this.' It's really my teammates who have been helping me get through this slump. I give it all to them and the coaches, they have helped me through this slump."
Guard Brittney Martin
On going into a full-court press
“I like that stuff. I thought it was cool. I like how we don't really practice it so it was kind of cool to try something new. I liked it.”
On the perimeter defense struggling the last two games
“I think it was based on effort. As you saw today, we were all together and it seemed like we wanted to get a win for our seniors. I think it was just based on effort looking back on it now. Today, we just tried hard."
On what's been working for her offensively
“I just have to calm down. I come into the games too crazy and I'm nervous. I just have to come out and play instead of thinking about things so much. I just have to come out and shoot and not think about my shots in there for 20 minutes. I just had to come out and play."
On how they wanted to send out the seniors
"Of course, we were looking to give the seniors a win today but I think it's like that for every game. We just look to the older players to bring us momentum and excitement."
On looking forward to Texas
"We're just going to do the things we've been doing. We are just going to learn their plays. We watch film every day. We just kind of break it up. "
On a bigger sense of urgency with Texas for the three-seed in the tournament
"All of the games feel the same to us. We have to win all of them so we can be where we want to be and not play Duke at Duke again in the first round. We just have to win."
Deb Patterson
Opening statement
"It was a hard-fought Big 12 game. I thought our frst half was sub-par, but I was really proud of how we competed and fought our way back to make that a tough and competitive game down the stretch. I thought getting in the hole with rebounding in the first half and defensively was unfortunate. I loved the comeback of this team. I thought we obviously rebounded at a much higher level in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to win. Down the stretch, execution bit us on the press break. You have to credit Oklahoma State for being aggressive. I'm feeling as though our basketball team is beginning to get it and just being able to understand what they're capable of being and doing. We're going to take to the floor Monday ready for that final Big 12 regular season game."
On the improvement in three-pointers
?"I thought we stood around on the offensive end in the first half--really stagnant. There was no movement and no real rhythm. It's hard to make shots when you're just playing passive and on your heels. I thought the second-half imporvement in our shots was really the fact that we established good rhythm. We had some timing. We stayed aggressive and probably got very similar looks but just dropped them down because we had a little team chemistry going out there.That's a big part of shot making."
On perimeter shooting
"Lettie does a good job of putting some pressure on the rim with her dribble. I thought Ashlynn Knoll was great inside earlyoccuping some defense. We got just enough penetration and penetration passes to open up the perimeter for some of those looks. I thought in the second half we did a nice job with that. In the first half I think they were giving us some of those shots based on our percentages quite frankly. We lived true to those percentages unfortunately."
Lettie Romero
On what this game means to their season
"It's true that we are a young team. it's been hard for us to adjust to the Big 12 season. It's hard to compete against (those teams). I think we are fighting, and we are comingevery game and trying to do our best. We have one more game, and we're going to give it our all."
On what it took for K-State to come back
"The first half was absolutely a lack of energy and I think we started the game focused and trying to come back and make shots, and we did. The last few minuteswe were really exhausted, and Oklahoma State is a really good team. I think we did a good job in the second half."?
