Sherri Coale Quotations

What a great preparatory environment for postseason play. We're going to get all the energy and passion and emotion from an Elite Eight game that sends you to the Final Four or the atmosphere of a Final Four. It will be absolutely alive in there.

We're quite different. When these guys are getting a rebound a minute ... it changes everything.

She took the floor with poise and walked out and took care of business. Our bench has been the answer in conference play. Every single person contributes.

She sees herself in a very clear way, which is atypical for an 18-year-old girl. She sees herself for what she is and who she is. If she scores 31 points, she thinks she should have because she's 3 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than anyone guarding her. If she gets 20 rebounds, she thinks she should have because we missed a bunch of shots. She's very matter-of-fact about the whole thing.

She has been an incredible mentor to me. I feel like I have been given a gift in being able to coach against her.

Maybe you lose a game by a bucket, a free throw, a rebound or a loose ball there are all kinds of things working up to the loss. She just made a tough shot.

If we know we've got one graduating, we're looking for another one. It's like getting a point guard or a shooter. It's a kid with an edge. You have to have some of that.

I don't know what it is, and I don't really care what it is. It doesn't matter. It's gotta stop. You've got to be tough enough to rise up and make a play.

I don't know that any of us could have ever looked at any 18-year-old kid, at any point in the history of this game, and thought that they could display the consistency that she has displayed throughout this season. That, to me, is a remarkable thing.

Her play was similar to how it has gone all season. There was a lot of single coverage. She is such a dominant presence. She shot her free throws well today. Even the ones that she missed, she shot better. She had a pretty good night or lunch.

I wouldn't say it left a bad taste in my mouth. But I felt like it negated our ability to send a really resounding message to anybody who might be in our path as we head to our ultimate goal.

I think women's basketball hinges on not just the play of, but the personalities of, its superstars. I think Courtney and Candace fit that bill. But as far as a head-to-head rivalry, they don't play the position. It's kind of like Kobe and Shaq. It's different. They're both really, really good, but they aren't going to guard each other.

I thought our crew was good once we got going. We had a little trouble adjusting to the altitude at the beginning. It took us a little bit to get our second wind. We carried some momentum into half time and I thought we were really good coming out in the second half.

I think that Baylor is clearly and you guys gave me all kinds of grief for saying this during Big 12 play but clearly they are the second-best team in the league. They finished in second place and they separated themselves, is my point, from the guys that where behind them.

I think we are still getting better. Sometimes at this time of year, it's obviously about how good you are, but it's also about how you are together. And I don't know if I've been around a team that's any better together.

I think we are on the right track. As much as I would like to have the atmosphere that we would have at the Lloyd Noble Center, I think that this is probably best for the growth of women's basketball. I think it will continue to pick up steam.

I think that the best teams don't always just have the best players, but the players who play the best together.

Laura really challenged (Anderson) down the stretch and made it hard for her to catch the ball.

I think the way she's playing right now is a testament to how much she'll improve the more she plays.

It is a very good regional site and a lot of our fans can follow us, so it's great.

Our identity encompasses toughness now because she supplies it. She wants the ball, she's not afraid of any type of defense or any type of circumstance, and she guards the heck out of people.

Our guards were intimidated and Connecticut kicked us down the floor for 40 minutes.

Our players have such tremendous respect for Marsha. I wanted them to be a part of treating her the way she has always treated us.

I think one of the things that make a player so special and so dominant is their ability to make everybody around them better. And, as you saw on several occasions today, Courtney did that.

The absence of Marsha on the Texas Tech sideline is a blow to the university, it's a blow to our conference, and it's a blow to women's basketball.

That was probably the best first half we played all season.

Without Ashley, I don't think Courtney would have done the things she did this year.

Without a doubt, she's changed the complexion of everything.

We played really early in the season, so I think both teams will look a lot better. We have improved a whole lot, and I know New Mexico has as well. It's going to be quite a battle out there.

Today we had a combination of playing really, really hard and the ball going in the basket, particularly from 3-point range. When you do those two things together, scores can blow up pretty quickly.

We don't have people who just come in and maintain the status quo. They create something, and that's a bonus.

We probably set the game back about 15 years with our turnovers.

Was I afraid of losing? Not so much, I thought we had a good lead. Our bench play is better than what we showed today.

Without Erin's three-point shots, we're not even in the game in the first half.

We had to expend so much energy just to get back into the game, and we could never get over that hump.

You have to be at least aware of, if not afraid of, all the pieces. All year, our strength has been the number of people who can get the job done.

We got some good looks and converted. Sometimes that's easier said than done, and we were able to blow the score up.

Brooke made some tough, tough shots. That 14-of-16 did not come easy.

Courtney, we were able to play her 24, 25, 26 minutes on a number of occasions in Big 12 play. So we get a chance to rest her ... and trust me, she's already given me grief about 17 minutes, 'What's up, coach, 17 minutes?' I already heard that.

Early in the half we did a good job of holding them off. We did enough on defense to keep them from scoring.

There's nothing easy about being good, and to be good for 16 straight games is a pretty amazing thing.

There's nothing about Courtney that's typical. She works hard, has been willing to take on a leadership role as a freshman, is open to learning new things every day and wants to make her team better.

The trees in the middle grow majestic because of it. How important it is that we all get together and help those nameless faces to grow ? the elderly and homeless and the needy ?

I've never had a freshman like Courtney Paris, and I'm not sure there's ever been a freshman like Courtney Paris. I think her dominance was well reflected in that small little selection show that we had.

I've never seen an 18-year-old kid do it night in and night out regardless of the circumstance, regardless of the venue. Kids get sick, they have tests, they have distractions, they have a bad night. There are a million things that happen to freshmen along the course of the season.

The thing that's truly been remarkable is that there hasn't been a swoon. She's been consistent with her scoring, consistent with her rebounding, she's taken care of the basketball, and she's played at her best when the lights are the brightest.

Offensively we just sputtered. (UT's defense) forced our feeders to make bad decisions. Our timing getting the ball to (Paris) was just miserable.

After 30 days of practice and three wins now, it was not something I expected. I was very surprised there was a lack of poise from particularly my point guards.

Once you go to the Final Four, you think you're going to go every year. Then you find out it's really, really hard. These kids have never been here before. We talked in the locker room about how neat it is and how with every rung of this tournament the excitement doubles and triples.

That's what makes you a good team. I feel like we have a lot of guys who can answer.

This atmosphere and this environment was the best possible preparation we could have for the NCAA tournament.

They sent a lot of defensive looks at her. In the first half, she panicked. We just told her to be patient, to pass or fake and go in to score. That forces other teams to make decisions.

You don't think you're going to win by that kind of margin going into the Sweet 16. More than sending a message to other teams, it sends a message to us.

This might have been our best team effort.

There isn't a physical prototype that preceded (Courtney). You have to look at the men's game and talk about comparisons to Shaq, how his frame and his ability transcended the game as we know it. She has the potential to have that kind of impact.

It's a tough field. Obviously there's a lot of tradition and a lot of prominence in women's basketball represented here. It bodes well for high-caliber games.

It's a called play. It makes the defenders chose between Courtney and our 3-point shooter. We know we're not just Courtney. That's why we were 16-0 in the conference.

It is perhaps a new turn for our game, but I've never been enamored with it. In terms of the game, you just get two points for it. I'm not discounting the dunk. It's just that there are so many other fantastic things that can happen on a basketball court.

Forests shouldn't exist. The trees in the middle of the forest don't get enough light or nutrients to survive.

It's our poise, our composure and our confidence together that allowed us to win this one.

The Big 12 Conference lost a lot of talented players to graduation, but there are a lot of new names. It's kind of a changing of the guard. It is a very talented freshman group.

At the end of this week, they're going to hand a trophy. And anytime they're going to hand a trophy, we're going to go fight like crazy to make sure they hand it to us.

I'm fine with it. It does not really matter to me. You have to beat everybody at some point anyway.

I'm really proud of this team and what we've accomplished. Securing a Big 12 championship with games yet to be played is a pretty special accomplishment and we're not taking it for granted for one single second. We're just not going to celebrate it with all the euphoria yet, because there's so much out there still that we can do.

I'm really glad that we have this carrot of going undefeated, to dangle out there in front of them to keep them directed and going after a prize. It's like a good hunting dog - they need something to chase.

I just watched film of Anne Donovan and Nancy Lieberman and Cheryl Miller, and I've never been on the floor next to them when they played. But I've never in my 10 years as coach been on the floor with anything like Courtney Paris.

I'm so proud of our kids. I thought they competed well and showed team unity throughout. I realize we set the game back 15 years with our turnovers. You throw it to them 32 times and win - we must have done something right.

Iowa State played fantastic. When we were up by 10 points (with 6 1/2 minutes to play), Iowa State could have said 'we're done,' but they kept fighting.

If you can survive all that heat, you can exploit on the back side. Gary knows that. It's a risk he takes.

I don't know if you can put your arms around really what she's capable of.

I don't think there's ever been anyone who could touch what she's done. For her to separate herself from everyone in this day and age is really special.

I do realize that we probably set the game back about 15 years by our turnovers. But to win in spite of that ... there must be some other things that you're doing pretty well.