Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech Postgame Quotes
April 18, 2003 | Cowgirl Basketball
Head Coach Julie Goodenough
Opening remarks... "It has been a great tournament and we wished that we could have stayed another day. I am really proud of our kids' effort. I think the fourth half got us tonight. We played two really tough halves last night and a really good first half tonight, but the fatigue factor was too overwhelming in the second half."
On the team buying into her preseason optimism ... "I think it took a long time for our kids to believe that we could be successful and that we could beat good teams and be competitive. I think the last three weeks of our season they really showed and demonstrated they believe in one another. They believed in our game plan and executed the way that we practiced. By doing the little things right, I think that made us successful. We may not have won all the games that we wanted to but we saw some strides forward."
On playing even with Texas Tech into the second half... "I think that we had a lot of enthusiasm throughout most of the second half. When we got down by more than 10 points you could see our kids start to drop their heads. Trisha Skibbe did a great job in the huddles trying to get her team fired up. I think a big factor for us in the second half was the fatigue. We had mental breakdowns in three possessions in a row and they all resulted in turnovers. I think the kids were excited throughout the second half. We got a little bit tired in the middle."
Thia Willis, Guard, Sr.
One playing in her last college game... "This game was very emotional knowing that it could possibly be my last game. I went out there like it was going to be my last and tried to give it all that I could give. I enjoyed my opportunity at Oklahoma State."
On Jia Perkins... "(Jia) Perkins is the key to Texas Tech. She is very hard to guard with her quickness and her ability to stop on a dime and shoot a good jumper. We tried to guard her the best that we could, but she is really quick. She is the one that gave them the lead and really carried them on her back. We tried to stop her but she is just a really good player."
Trisha Skibbe, Center, Jr.
On the second half scoring drought... "We had one of our droughts where we did not score for six minutes. We just have to figure out how to not have those anymore. "
On optimism for next season... "It makes you feel really good that your team can step up and play good ball. It is just something to build on."
On Plenette Pierson... "(Plenette) Pierson is a good player. She is strong and makes a lot of moves."
Texas Tech Quotes:
Coach Marsha Sharp
Opening Comments: "We're glad to move on to the next round. I was disappointed with the first half, and part of that was because Oklahoma State did such a nice job with the offense. We wasted too many possessions on our offense and took some ill-advised shots. We didn't remain very patient in our offensive sets to try to let people touch the ball that needed to have a chance to score. We wanted to make sure in the second half that the shots we took were more effective. We played more consistent and harder in the second half. We were able to play a lot of players and you always like to do that on the first day of a tournament. We have a huge challenge for tomorrow.
On setting the pace: "If you can defend them [OSU] well enough to make them not score, sometimes you can get the ball off the boards and run a little bit. I thought that was important going in the offensive direction. When we were playing defense against them, we decided to pick them up in the backcourt and not let their point guard stand in the backcourt for 15 seconds and then bring it at us. I thought that when we did that it made them go a little bit more up-tempo.
Plenette Pierson Senior Forward - Center
On being physical defensively: "It was all out hustle, bustle and wanting the win. I was willing to sacrifice my body to get the steal."
On Playing Kansas State Tomorrow: "One thing I have learned is that you can't take any team in the Big 12 for granted. They have beat us before but we want to get out there and play our game tomorrow."
Jia Perkins, Junior Guard
On second half come back: "Well, I don't think it is good to think that you can come out and beat any team by playing well just in the second half. In our next games I want to go out and start our games like we did the second half today."
On reactions to the fans: "We have some great fans. I just wanted to get them into the game because when our fans get going we get going."
On the first half: "They [Oklahoma State] are a great team. Their win yesterday gave them great confidence and we came out and just couldn't hit our shots."
