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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2013Kelsi BakerKristy CurryCasey MorrisDALLAS, TEXAS OKLAHOMA STATE – 59 COACH CURRY: Credit Oklahoma State. I don't think today was indicative of the season we've had thus far, and it's disappointing, but at the same time, you know, all three games against those guys have been nip and tuck and they were able to come away with one today, and just take your hat off to them and congratulations and move on to the next one. Q. Kelsi, you guys got to within one four times in the second half, what happened that you were not able to get over the hump? KELSI BAKER: We just didn't concert. Credit them, we didn't convert on the offensive end. It was missed shots, and credit to their defense. And when they rebounded, we didn't get as many offensive rebounds as they got. Q. You started out 1‑for‑9, but got hot in the second half, finished with a double‑double. Talk about what the changes were in the second half that allowed to you make a lot more shots? KELSI BAKER: Obviously my teammates found me in perfect position and hit me with the passes. So it was nothing that I was doing differently. It was my teammates were hitting me in the perfect spot, and I was just fortunate to finish my stops. Q. Just talk about the problems that young posed inside, especially on the glass, 18 rebounds, got a couple big ones late. KELSI BAKER: Toni Young is a great player, she's a very athletic player. And at crucial points in the game, we just didn't put a body on her and we didn't box out. It was nothing that she was doing‑‑ credit to her, she's an athlete, but we just didn't box out and we didn't finish plays like we needed to. Q. You guys were up 12‑5 and they went on a bit of a run and you had nine turnovers in the rest of the half in the final ten minutes.  What happened with the offense, or was it just their defense pressuring you guys a lot? CASEY MORRIS: We made some small mistakes, that we can't make against any Big12 team, every team that's in the Big12. And credit to them, they are a great team but we can't make mistakes like that. I think we lost this game ourselves, and we have to take responsibility and keep on moving forward and know that we have more basketball to play. Q. You seemed to be the biggest team, yet you matched them on the offensive glass‑‑ talk about the team in that regard. COACH CURRY: We all know rebounding is not about the size of your body but the size of your heart, and I think the kids have done a good job on the glass. We just were not able to convert, and they were able to convert‑‑ theirs was 11 and ours was 8, that's the difference right there. They were able to convert on our offensive put backs. We are on offensive rebound running team and we weren't able to do that, convert. Q. I know in the first half, you guys run a lot of halfcourt press, you got a lot of turnovers, but on the offensive end, I know late in the first half, your team got tired, a lot of shots contested, was it an issue with fatigue? COACH CURRY: I don't necessarily see it as fatigue. Their bench is smaller than our bench. I don't think our bench helped us very much today, and it is what it is. The numbers don't lie. And I thought Haley came in and gave us a little basket there and some big inside, but obviously our rotations changed a little bit, with Wills (ph) not being here, and it is what it is, and we have got to have other people step up. I stuck with who got us here and who brought us to the dance. And sure, I could have gone to my bench but I didn't choose to do that. Q. Constantly having to play from behind and getting to three points, two points, one point, four times, and not getting over the hump, did that start to wear on you? COACH CURRY: No, I got concerned about that, but in every single huddle I thought our coaching staff was outstanding: You can do this; positive; this is what we need to do; see how we need to do it; you're good; get a stop; you're a stop or two away; comeback and be aggressive on the opposite end. At some point I thought we were trying to coach too much energy, and as players, you have to make plays down the stretch and we just weren't able to. But I was so pleased with our coaches and how positive I thought the bench stayed and our kids on the bench. We just couldn't get that big stop that we needed and go back down and convert, and we're one down. Q. I wanted to know the first half, you played up tempo, but the second half, I noticed that there was a lot of standing around on the perimeter, not a lot of off the ball movements. Was it something the defensive did or fatigue? COACH CURRY: I thought Kelsi Baker had a big second half, and we went in side and got the fourth foul on Young and I thought we got some real looks and did some things there. Mo missed the layup, got to the foul line. So I don't know if I agree with us completely standing around. Obviously Chynna had a bad day and was 0‑for‑9 but the same time, you have to want the ball in those situations and be aggressive. We got to the ten‑foul mark. We talked a lot about continuously trying to get to the line and we spread the four in our five series and were not able to get a lot of looks. It's about able come out and consistently be attacking. We've been a great free throw shooting team all year, and tonight we were not able to convert those. We had enough looks at catches and throws, but we just were not able to convert. Q. With Chynna Brown, do you think the speed ‑‑ OK‑State was an issue? COACH CURRY: I think just a little bit, sometimes you can be too quick and I thought she really hurried tonight, was trying just a little too hard. But again, hats off to that kid. She's gotten us to this point, she's had an incredible senior year and sometimes you have a bad day, and I'm sure she won't have two back‑to‑back. She'll be all right. Q. You have a little bit of a layoff now, you're obviously hosting the first is second round in the NCAA, what do you hope to accomplish during that long layoff? COACH CURRY: Continuously get better. Obviously I thought just physically, there were points during that game where I thought to myself, man, this one looks tired; that one looks tired, and so we'll make sure that we rest. And at the same time I think we have got to continuously improve, and that's my job to challenge them day‑in and day‑out. It's going to be first group and second group this week because of spring break, and we don't have our guys in town to practice against. So it's an opportunity for those kids on the bench to improve, our starters to improve. Obviously we are not shooting the basketball very good the last three games at the level I think we need to and making shots so a lot of areas for improvement and we'll just continuously get better and we'll look forward to some community service this week and spending some time together. We are thankful for what we do have and not what we don't have and we have a lot to look forward to, and so we're going to continue to get better. Q. (And being a host site in the NCAA Tournament)? COACH CURRY: It's incredible, we are so excited and so blessed to be defending our home court and hope we can send the seniors out with wins into the Sweet16. We are excited about the crowd and hope that they can come out and support so that we can continue to host. The State of Texas is fortunate to have one in Waco and Lubbock, and there's great opportunities in the State of Texas to support women's basketball in the first and second rounds. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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