NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 29, 2002

Laneishea Caufield

Sherri Coale

Stacey Dales

Rosalind Ross

COACH SHERRI COALE: I have to say first of all that I think we did not win this basketball game if we do not compete in the Big 12 Conference. We have been battle tested night in and night out through the months of January and February, and so when Duke made that run in the second half and cut the score, we just responded the same way we did against Baylor and Kansas State and Texas and Colorado, and the list goes on and on. Because of the caliber of teams within our league, we were able to perform the way we did today. And I'm real proud of these guys, not just for the win, but for the way in which they did it, which really had our signature on it. They played with the stamp of Oklahoma basketball, which is they played together. I thought our run and our poise late in the second half when Duke made their charge, and we couldn't figure a way to keep Iciss from catching the ball off the block, we really pulled together and made extra passes and made big shots and defended and helped one another and that makes me very proud of these guys. The way in which they handled their business never ceases to amaze me.

ROSALIND ROSS: I knew the team would mostly focus on LaNeishea and Stacey. I took whatever came my way. They left me open a couple of times and I stuck in some baskets. And Stacey and LaNeishea, they are great players and looking for me on the fast break, and I nailed some shots that put us up a couple of times. And that was basically it.

ROSALIND ROSS: We have such a good team and we wanted to help LaNeishea out as much as we could. The whole Duke basketball team, we give them credit, they're a very good team. LaNeishea came in and she said she wanted to focus on defense, we said okay, LaNeishea, it's our job to help her out as much as we can, and I think that's what I did today.

ROSALIND ROSS: For me, it's very good. This is what we always wanted, personally and for myself, I always wanted to make it to a National Championship game. My teammates are so cool and calm and we all look out for each other, and that's what Stacey did with the assists, LaNeishea did with the defense. We played so good together that Duke couldn't overcome it. And I just wanted to make sure I left all my heart out there, giving it my all, and I felt that's what I did.

STACEY DALES: As a fellow player, you only hope that your coach will bring in people with huge hearts, people with as much belief as you have. And I don't know of a bigger heart than Rosalind Ross. She provides so much for us in any given game. If we're lacking in points in any area, she fills that void. If we need a defensive assignment, she fills that void. She gets overshadowed a great deal, because LaNeishea and I get a lot of attention. And you can't neglect Rosalind. She is an incredible player. She plays on one leg, and that's phenomenal. If I had to pick the toughest person that I've ever known, I would choose Rosalind.

LANEISHEA CAUFIELD: Coach Coale talked about before the game to just close out short on her, and make her take the outside shot and if she drove, then the team has to be there to help. I really tried to space myself where I could be close enough to contest her shot, but where I would be ready to play her drives. And it just worked out.

STACEY DALES: We appreciate you recognizing that, because we are a very offensive oriented team, we score a lot of points, but we have very sound help defense. They've prepared us phenomenally. We know each other so well, I think, that we naturally step in the lane when somebody's out of position or was offensive crashing, and we just fill that void for one another. And to be a part of that, you feel very comfortable, because you know that your team mate always has your back. And I think what helps us a great deal is our athleticism and our speed and quickness and our long arms. A lot of us have really long reaches, and LaNeishea was perfect on Beard tonight, and you've got to stop Beard to beat Duke, so credit to LaNeishea.

ROSALIND ROSS: I like the weather, and it's good to go somewhere where my knees can feel warm and just feel comfortable. San Antonio is great so far. And I'm going to go to sleep, and I don't know about everybody else, I'm kind of tired.

ROSALIND ROSS: Yeah. I have a torn ACL and a torn PCL and a torn meniscus. And I mean whatever else is wrong with it, that's about it. I think I have like one good ligament I was saving that's holding my knee together.

ROSALIND ROSS: The right knee.

COACH SHERRI COALE: Do you know, over the past four years with these guys, this probably won't seem like a huge statistic to you, but it's huge for me, I've called a time out 4 times that negated a basket. So figure it out. I want to wait and see if we have something good, if we didn't, we pulled it out and everybody went to their positions to set up, then I was going to call a time out, but I waited because these guys never cease to amaze me, if there's an open shot they're going to make it. Caton is a kid that has a great self-confidence. In pressure situations she always thinks she's going to score, win the game, be the hero. So you let them take that shot. But I knew we needed a time out to make some defensive adjustments. It was a time out to make defensive adjustments than it was to halt the momentum. I like my guys to play through the momentum stuff. We gain more when we're able to stop it and redirect it, than if I call a time out to stop it and try to change it. It was a time out for a defensive adjustment. It happened that Caton hit that basket and made it more beneficial.

COACH SHERRI COALE: They're wrong. The championship game is Sunday night, and we're playing in it with whoever gets lucky enough to win that game right there. I've said since the Selection Sunday, I don't think anybody shipped the trophy I to storage yet. If it's all right with the rest of you guys, we're going to go ahead and play and see what happens, so we'll be there Sunday night.

COACH SHERRI COALE: We put our two best defenders on them, when Stacey sets her mind to it and is deliberate about her mission for night she can guard anyone, anyone. Her mission with Currie, and we made that matchup because Currie has some size and she'll jump up over you in the lane, and try to post you up if she has the opportunity. So we had Stacey on her and told her to close out short. And to play the drive. And Currie hit one early, Stacey inched a little bit closer, we had to explain to her, that doesn't mean don't guard her, just give her a cushion, and contest the shot. She made that little adjustment and that was pretty much the end of it for Monique, except for some transition baskets. I thought LaNeishea did a fabulous job on Alana. She is a tough, tough kid to try to defend. I thought she made -- made her have to get to the block, I thought she defended in such a way that Alana thought I had to get to the block and get open to get an advantage, which played into our hands, because the guards were able to turn up the pressure and prevent the pass. Alana would be open occasionally, but the advantage always goes to the offense. So there were some times when LaNeishea was open, or Alana was open and our guards did such a great job on the ball, they couldn't see it, and by that time LaNeishea recovered.

COACH SHERRI COALE: I don't think it was physical fatigue, I think it was a little bit of maybe emotional stress. Have you ever noticed that when you're shooting the ball really well, you could have just run the Boston Marathon, but if you hit five 3's in a row, you have a swing in your step, and running around. You're playing defense, and they're scoring, and you're anything in your mind, they're coming back, and we're not scoring. While it's never that blatant, subconsciously that's rolling around inside of them. And then Caton hit that 3, and there's your energy. I don't think it had very much to do with sitting in the chairs for 20 seconds.

COACH SHERRI COALE: Oh, that's something we worked on for four years, five, with Stacey. We really preach and teach motion offense, and if you guys were at our open practice the other day you saw us running some 5 on 0. Where they're centering the basketball, and screening and cutting, and a lot of decision making. Go out and try to play 5 on 0 motion offense, it's the toughest thing in the world. We do that a lot, probably four days a week we do that, just to work on spacing and timing, and learning one another's tendencies, and I believe that's the way basketball ought to be played. And you know when they do it, it doesn't get any better than that. And the best plays are always the ones that happen I don't know that's coming. They understand how to play.

COACH SHERRI COALE: We're in the National Championship, you can be tired for the next year if you want to. Think back to when you were 20, was there anything you didn't think you could do? Those of us on the staff are sleeping about four or five hours a night, and we feel great, because we're in the National Championship, are you kidding me? You don't get tired. These kids are tough. They knew early on. We faced all these demons early on. We lose Jean Cunningham for ACL, and our back up player, goes down in her second exhibition game with ACL. We have a day of fear, where we can't get anything done in practice, because they're scared to death. What happens if we play 40 minutes a game, what happens if somebody has a 6-4 center. What happens for Ros fouls out -- here we go, here we go. We played Purdue in the first game of the year, and he they had two guys over 6-5. And Stacey and LaNeishea spent most of the game sitting by me. And Ros played 40 minutes, and Stacey played 40 minutes. And we won. It might not be as easy, and you guys are going to get winded, and you're going to have to be tougher than maybe the ordinary Joe, but we can find a way to get this done, that's why they're so rewarding to be around.