Dec. 17, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Oakland Head Coach Beckie Francis
Opening Statement
"That was a frustrating game because I felt like we had it," said head coach Beckie Francis. "We just had some mental errors in bringing the ball over and obviously, I have to do a better job of getting my team ready and teaching them some composure."
On how the last two close games have prepared you for Illinois and Penn State
They're preparing us all right. I just have to keep reminding myself that this schedule is helping us for league play. I think it is great to go against a higher level conference with teams that have more size and strength. We're just going to keep fighting.
On Saint Louis's size advantage
I thought they did a really nice job of lobbing the ball in to their 6-4 center (Kemezys) in the second half. They kept going to her and we had our 5-9 guard trying to stop her. I actually thought we did a decent job. What shot us in the foot were our turnovers at the end.
On going to a smaller lineup
We were trying to use our quickness and speed to get some nice fast breaks. We got a couple of nice baskets and got them in foul trouble. But then we just got away from it at crunch time again.
On the scoring slump late in the game
We had 15 possessions and counted 8-10 turnovers. You can't even get a shot off if you're turning it over. A lot of those were unforced, travels, dribbling off the foot, it was just annoying. About the effort of Victoria Lipscomb: She is a really good player. She is just a surprise and I have nothing but great things to say about her. She is a good defender, she can shoot the ball, is a good competitor.
On Jeltema's career day
It was really nice to see MJ (Melissa Jeltema) take over a game. She was rebounding, defending pretty hard in the post. I was really happy to see her break out. What does having Terava in the starting lineup do for you: It gives us a ton of experience. It just relaxes everyone out there. She is a great defender; you can't even explain the little things that she does. She just knows the game really well.
Senior Melissa Jeltema
On being in the zone
"I felt really good. Before the game I just tried to really relax myself and just go out and play and not think so much."
On matching up with Saint Louis
"I think we matched up well with them. We could have won the game and the mistakes that we made cost us the game."
On keeping spirits up with two close losses
"We're just trying to learn from the mistakes we are making. We are practicing better; hopefully we can put it together in a game and come out on top."
Saint Louis Head Coach Shimmy Gray-Miller
Opening Statement
I'm just awfully proud of my team right now. We talked a lot over the last few weeks about toughness and being tough. If we would of maintain that lead that we had in the first half, and gone on and coasted to victory, I don't think this win would of meant that much to my girls. So the fact that we lost the lead and had to gut it out at the end, that just goes right along with what I've been talking about. Tough teams win and we were tough tonight.
On the double-figure scoring tonight
We average three in double figures. We lost a girl that averaged 20 points and had no one else in double figures. We were concerned about how we were going to replace that. We've replaced that with more balance scoring. It was wonderful to see Jacy with 14 and Amanda had a couple of big baskets. I'm really pleased with what we have been doing offensively. Offense hasn't been our problem, our defense has. I thought we made some really big stops when we needed to.
On the size difference
I was concerned when Beckie made a lineup change and went so small. I knew we had to dominate the glass and that we were going to have some matchup problems. I had two post players that only play a few minutes each because they just couldn't match up with the quicker and more athletic guards. But we knew they were going to have matchup problems as well and we tried to pound the ball inside whenever we could.
On turning the ball over 18 times
Unfortunately, we are used to it. We turned the ball over 25 times in the last game, so this is an improvement. It's going to happen because we have young guards. I have a sophomore point and a freshman backs her up. When you have young guards, you have to be very patience.
On Oakland's stretch of not hitting a field goal late in the game
I don't think Oakland shot poorly at all tonight. I think it was a question of us really stepping it up down the stretch. We changed some things up and started face guarding Jeltema and limiting her touches. We started trapping trying to take them out their rhythm and fortunately for us it worked.
