Colorado University Athletics
Colorado vs. Oklahoma State, Quotes
February 21, 2004 | Women's Basketball
GENERAL: “I think our defense in the second half was more active. I think
“I think the biggest thing was turnovers. In the first half we turned it over 10 times. In the second half we weren't giving them the ball back. I thought Maria (Billingsley) did a much, much better job with her tempo with the rest of the team.
“(
ON TRISHA SKIBBE: “I think the big thing is that we knew she was in foul trouble a little bit. Randie (Wirt) came out shooting a little bit and made her think about guarding her a little bit. I thought she was aggressive on offense, but a little bit more passive on defense. We made her think a little bit about guarding, that is one thing. Secondly, our ball pressure was better in the second half. Randie is one of our top helpers on defense. When she is guarding a shooter like that, a scorer like that, that starts to help a little bit.”
Oklahoma Head Coach Julie Goodenough
GENERAL: “
“Colorado is a very good team and I think they have a good chance to go deep into the NCAA tournament.”
ON FINAL STRETCH OF GAME: “We did a great job defensively but we couldn't figure out how to score in the last seven minutes of the game.”
ON DEFENSE: “We were competitive and confident. We fought a good game but you cannot have a defensive lapse at all. We switched to screens down the stretch. They (Colorado) capitalized on any defensive lapse.”
ON BIG 12 PLAY: “It is a tough league. The conference is so strong and so good, but it is a fun league to be a part of. It is fun to play against some of the best players in the country.”
ON G NINA STONE: “It takes something out of you initially. We were surprised but we still continued to fight. Nina (Stone) and Trisha (Skibbe) were successful from the beginning. They came out strong, so when she went down it did take away from us emotionally.”
“I think that she was more scared than hurt. She came down on the right side of her body and hard. I think it knocked the breath out of her and she didn't know what was injured because she was tingling. It is hard to know what is wrong. They took x-rays at halftime and we haven't heard anything since then. She is in our prayers.”
ON C TRISHA SKIBBE: “She did a good job. Trisha (Skibbe) kept her composure. She got beat up a lot in the second half, she gets beat up a lot in playing small post. She did a lot for us today.”
ON C TERA BJORKLUND: “It is hard to keep Tera from scoring, especially with the triangle offense. If you focus to much on Tera you leave great players on the perimeter open. They are a difficult team to defend.”
Colorado Players
G Maria Billingsley
ON PASSING UP SHOTS: “We wanted to look to get the ball inside more. Last game we didn't do that. So, I just purposely took my time. Unless I am not really set and the clock is not running down, we are not in a hurry and we need to look for the high-percentage shot.
ON LOSING NINA STONE IN FIRST HALF: “I think that hurt them quite a bit. She is one of those players that brought a lot to their team. She was quick, she could shoot. I think so, for them it (hurt), but I don't think it would have made a difference for us. We had a pretty good second half and good defense and did some good things.
F Randie Wirt
ON HER GOOD SHOOTING: “Well they would leave me to double Tera (Bjorklund) because she is obviously our scoring threat. Tera's presence inside today and pretty much all the time, gets me open shots.
ON OKLAHOMA STATE: “Coach Barry told us that they are very post-oriented and that they were going to go inside a lot. I don't know if we were all that ready. In the beginning we had trouble adjusting to them but in the end, obviously, our guards shut their guards down.
C Tera Bjorklund
ON SECOND PLACE SCORING ALL-TIME AT COLORADO: “It's kind of fun and I feel extremely honored to be on a list with the top scorers. But if it wasn't for my teammates getting me a lot of good shots, obviously, I wouldn't be there though. So I pretty much owe all of it to my teammates around me.
