Feb. 6, 2010

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Oakland Head Coach Beckie Frances

Opening statement
That was a frustrating game having a lead like that then giving up the lead. I thought we showed some improvement from the first time we played them and we are just excited to get back on the court and play our next game.

Trying to stop Luper
She was leading the nation in scoring at one point in the year. She has scored 40 and 30 points against Texas and all these other teams. She is a really good player. If you sag off her she is going to shoot the three, if you play her tight she is going to drive. We just tried to change defenders but she just hit some big shots. But some other players hit some big shots. Buck hit a huge three and Voelker hit a huge three so it was a well rounded attack on their part

Oral Robert's defensive pressure
I think it was the situation, and it happens all across America, it's on ESPN right now, that when a team has a lead they start to play not to lose and the team that is behind is playing aggressive, they are playing hard and they are just attacking. They were in a mindset like we were in the first half. Sometimes you just can't prevent it, sometimes you just have to hope that your team figures it out and if your team hits a shot or two that it will stop the bleeding. They were just in that reverse mentality that we were. We were attacking then they were attacking and we were playing afraid to lose

Mindset of team after home loss
It just punches you in the gut but what I like about this team is that they are very competitive. They are going to come back just fighting and taking care of themselves. I think we showed that we can beat Oral Roberts, I know we gave up the lead and we lost the game, but I think that it shows that we can win the league and that is what I told the team.

Focus level of team after the loss
I actually think this team is incredibly focused. I don't know how much more focused you can get. Oral Roberts is a very good team with some big time guard play and sometimes great offense beats great defense. We are a great defensive team and Luper just hit some big shots. I think we are going to be as focused as we have been and I'm really happy where everyone is at, everyone knows the roles and we have good team unity.

Senior Hanna Reising

Offensive difference between first and second half
I think our first half mindset was attack, attack, attack and shot when you have open shots and then we got a big lead and we were like alright. Then we did the exact opposite in the second half and that was caused our dry spots

Preparing for the upcoming week
Well first we have Centenary on Monday and we have practice tomorrow so we are going to come in focused and take it out on Centenary and get a 'W' first. Then next week we have two big games next weekend and we have come into practice the last couple of weeks really focused, 100 percent there and we just have to keep working from there

Senior Melissa Jeltema

Oral Roberts' adjustments in the second half
They changed their defense, they stopped full court pressing us and went back into a 2-3 (zone) but their defense didn't necessarily beat us, we beat ourselves with the choices we made and we weren't playing very aggressive

Preparing for the upcoming week
We just have to learn from this loss, take it to heart and not let it happen again.

Oral Roberts Head Coach Jerry Finkbeiner

Opening Statement
We've had two of these games in a road. Down 17 to North Dakota State and then tonight to Oakland. We had more time than NDSU to chip away at it. We're pretty lucky. That's the bottom line. We're lucky to get out of town with the "W".

On the play of Luper
She is the real deal. She is an above average athlete. I just wish she would start the game quicker. She is always a second half player. I love coaching her and she is a special player.

The difference in the second half
We were desperate. We don't typically give Kevi the ball that much in a row. For about six minutes we just kept getting her the ball. We were in desperation mode and Kevi hit a few shots and Oakland found the shots harder to hit and the momentum switched. Again, we were real lucky. The Oakland girls played really well.