Dec. 13, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Oakland Head Coach Beckie Francis
Opening Statement
"I was actually really proud of our team I thought we battled and they have some size and experience on us. I was really proud that we came out and fought when the game was at a two possession difference and they kept working hard. I was proud of their improvement." On the lower shooting in the second half "I think we don't know who the go-to is yet. The freshmen are out there scoring, but I think they are thinking, 'Am I the go-to player?' I think we're still trying to figure that out and I think that has something to do with the shot selection."
On playing more tentative in the second half
"I think we're still figuring out rotations and with our freshmen, this is all new for them. They are leading us in scoring, but I'm not sure if our upper classmen feel if they are supposed to feed the freshmen or if they are supposed to take the shots. I think we're figuring all that out and this was a great game for us."
On if the Purdue game gave insight to upcoming Big Ten opponents Illinois and Penn State
"It's speed, strength and size. That's why we schedule these games to prepare us for league play. You get used to playing at that level. Purdue has speedy guards and high level shooters and they are really good, plus they have height. It's really good for us to go against that and we know we have that coming up in the next three games."
On biggest difference between this Purdue game and last year's loss
"It could be a combination of Purdue graduating a really good All-American, but I think our team has potential, speed and depth. Who knows? It's just a different situation."
Freshman guard Victoria Lipscomb
On the freshmen's progress thus far this season
"Even though we have a tough week coming up, we had some tough practices and did some more conditioning in the weight room. I think overall, this whole week made us better and stronger than yesterday and I think today was one of those games where we won. Our record is not where we want it to be and I know we can perform better than we have been."
On whether this was a break-out game for Oakland
"I think it was a break-out game, even though we lost and came up short. It was definitely a break-out game. I think we made a statement because that's really our team right there. The running, the pushing and staying with a pretty good Purdue team. I think our future is very bright."
On if the Purdue game gave insight to upcoming Big Ten opponents Illinois and Penn State
"We know those two teams are a lot like Purdue, very big and physical and we're not the biggest team in the world. But, I know we are going to go in there and play them just like we did with Purdue. We will play harder and better because I know we are a great team and going into league play in January, we want to be better and stronger because at the end of the day, we're going for the league championship."
Purdue Head Coach Sharon Versyp
On matching up against Bethany Watterworth
"She is a very nice player, for being under-sized down low. We were trying to attack her to some degree, but we played an all-around solid game."
Purdue's Brittany Rayburn
On holding on to win
"Like Coach said, we haven't been able to close out close games and we showed our maturity as a team. Our mental toughness is trying to develop and this game proves that we're ready to come out and start playing some basketball."
On focusing to win
"Honestly, we were thinking that we have a lot of game to play and we haven't been able to finish out a game. We put our minds to it and we knew had to get defensive stops and that's where it started. Last game, we played Oakland not to lose. This game, we played to win."
