Feb. 14, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Oakland Head Coach Beckie Francis
Opening Statement
"I'll take both of those halves any day of the week. I was very happy with how we performed in both halves. We had some consistency, again, from everybody on the team. I was very pleased and it was a very good team win."
On whether there was any doubt Jessica Pike would have a good game
"No, and I didn't even remember that she had a bad game. I have so much confidence in her and everybody on the team that she's if she's in a slump, somebody else will score. It's a nice feeling to not have to rely on one person. I did say before the game that we have to do a better job of feeding Pike the ball when she's open because she works really hard off the ball."
On Melissa Jeltema and Hanna Reising playing well after sitting out
"MJ is steady. She'll always grab 10 rebounds and run the floor. I'm really pleased with Hanna coming off a really bad sprained ankle and fighting through the pain at practice and I was so happy for her. I was really happy with the way both of them played post defense. When Eva Ivanova was getting in there, those two really locked up on her."
On tonight's defense
"We're really trying to fine tune our defense. Oral Roberts scored 50 percent shooting on us and we didn't like that, so we got to work in practice and said we have to got to get that field goal percentage down. We challenged them and didn't care what the score was and we just focused on getting stops."
On tonight's offense
"I was really happy with that. They play a switching defense and you're open early, so we told them to be patient and try and get some inside shots first. I thought Stacey Farrell did a nice job of attacking the basket. She got to the free throw line and April Kidd also attacked. I really liked how we had some really nice fast breaks and passes to attack the basket."
Senior guard Jessica Pike
On shooting well tonight after her low-point night against Oral Roberts
"It was definitely a relief. It was great to get the shot back this game, as opposed to Oral Roberts."
On April Kidd and Melissa Jeltema taking over scoring in the second half
"That's the thing about our team. Once one person gets on a roll, it opens the floor for everybody else to start moving. They're both offensive players, so once IPFW started to lock up on me, they played four-on-four tonight and we had some really nice takes."
On team chemistry
"I think we're going to keep using different line ups. Our team is 12 deep and we can go all the way to the end of our bench and not lose anything. We're a really close team, so no matter who is in, it's pretty much the same."
On the breast cancer awareness event
"I think it's awesome that all women's basketball, and even our men's players, is supporting the cause because it makes you think of the greater picture with all of the women fighting for their lives against breast cancer. The fact that we can support, even just a little bit, is great."
On the determination of the team
"At this point, we are four games away from the tournament and now, it's just focusing on getting our team better and preparing for the tournament. It doesn't matter who were are playing and who is on the court: all of us are going to make sure we are ready for the tournament."
On whether Oakland is where they want to be for the tournament
"Yes. We're really starting to focus and put all the little pieces together so when we go to South Dakota, we'll be ready."
