Oklahoma won the first matchup of the 2009-10 season with the 77-66 victory in Stillwater over their bedlam rivals, Oklahoma State. After the game, both teams took time to talk about their play and the game. Here are some notes and quotes from the stat sheet and the speakers:
- Oklahoma guard Danielle Robinson ended the day with 36 points on 10-of-22 shooting and was a perfect 16-of-16 from the line. 23 of her 36 came in the second half in the game. Her work from the charity stripe extends to a record-high 35 consecutive free throws made. She also chipped in nine rebounds and six assists while only committing one turnover in the contest.
- Sooner center Abi Olajuwon, after taking no shots in the first half, ended the day with 14 points and nine boards in her 28 minutes of play, going 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, where OU was 23-of-25.
- Forward Amanda Thompson chipped in 10 rebounds and six points in the game. The Sooners outrebounded the Cowgirls by 18 – holding a 49 to 31 advantage on the glass.
- Oklahoma now holds a 49-36 all-time series advantage and the Sooners have won 21 of the last 22 meetings between the schools.
Head Coach Sherri Coale, Danielle Robinson, Abi Olajuwon and Amanda Thompson post-game interviews:
Sherri Coale on Danielle Robinson’s play – If you’ll just indulge me for a second, I don’t know that I’ve seen a finer individual performance from a point guard than what you saw from Danielle today. And I know the numbers are gaudy and speak for themselves, but it was her leadership. It was the way she ran our team, it was the decisions she made throughout the game, it was her cool head. That’s what great point guards do, so when you want to talk about who’s the best in the country, I think you’ve got to include her because today she was just phenomenal.
For OSU, the team was led by Riley and Cunningham, as has been the case for the majority of this season, but the downfall was no one else stepped up for the Cowgirls. As previously noted, Oklahoma State was outrebounded 49 to 31, gave up 30 points in the paint, 13 fast break points and shot 37.1 percent from the field in the tough home loss.
- Oklahoma State seniors Andrea Riley and Tegan Cunningham were the only two Cowgirls in double figures, with Riley getting 30 points on an unimpressive 11-of 34 from the field (4-of-12 from beyond the arc). Riley also had six rebounds, five assists and five turnovers in her 40 minutes of play. Cunningham netted 16 points and only three boards in the Bedlam loss.
Andrea Riley and Tegan Cunningham post game conference audio:
Andrea Riley on Oklahoma’s performance - They outworked us, they outplayed us and that’s why they won.
Head coach Kurt Budke spoke on the loss and his team’s performance:
Kurt Budke on the loss - I thought they executed like a more experienced team than we did. I thought the point guards would kind of cancel each other out and I think that’s kind of what happened. It just came down to the boards. You can not win in this league giving up 20 offensive rebounds.
Budke on Big 12 leader Nebraska – If they stay healthy they’re not going to be caught, I don’t think. That’s a really special team up there.
