Sooners' head coach Jennie Baranczyk, guard Lexy Keys and guard Payton Verhulst speak to the media after winning the Big 12 title.
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00:00 >> Coach Stark and then get the questions.
00:01 Coach.
00:04 >> I'm not usually speechless as you all know, but what a game.
00:11 And looking at a stat sheet, we shouldn't have won it, obviously, and
00:15 Texas is so talented.
00:17 And yet we just had this never say die attitude and
00:22 we just kept going and kept going and kept going.
00:24 And I think this team is really found itself to be a really good team.
00:30 And I don't mean good because we want a big 12 championship.
00:32 I mean a good team because they cover for each other, they help each other,
00:37 they believe in each other.
00:38 They just, they never quit on each other.
00:41 And they never have a second of doubt, even when it doesn't seem possible.
00:45 And as you all know, and you're probably gonna ask how we've gotten this far.
00:53 We had some choices to make and I think we made some pretty darn good ones.
00:55 >> Mm-hm.
00:56 >> So your offensive rebounding won this game.
00:59 >> Well, it had to because our shooting percentage didn't.
01:02 And, but that's what I mean.
01:05 I mean, even at the end of the game and it's, I mean,
01:09 every one of those we were just on the floor, even when we didn't get it.
01:12 Even when we fouled, even when something happened, we really wanted it.
01:17 In that first quarter, you could tell Texas came in,
01:20 they threw the first, second, third punch.
01:23 We were completely on our heels.
01:24 And you take that ten minutes out and it's a different basketball game.
01:28 But you don't get to do that.
01:30 And so I feel like we responded well after that.
01:33 And then in the end, I think we just kept going.
01:37 >> Lexi, walk us through that last sequence that ended with your shot.
01:42 >> Honestly, I think I ended up in the right place at the right time getting there.
01:46 But I think we just continued as a team to just keep playing hard.
01:49 And we've been talking about in practice, just finish plays, finish plays.
01:52 And I think that was a gutsy win on everyone's part.
01:56 So I think I just happened to be there and they were giving me confidence,
02:00 just keep shooting.
02:01 So I think honestly right time, or right place, right time.
02:03 But amazing save by Sky, absolutely amazing save.
02:07 >> Did it feel good when you felt your hands?
02:10 >> Yeah, but I think the other ones felt good too, so I was hoping it went in.
02:13 [LAUGH] >> You're normally pretty calm.
02:16 It doesn't seem like you get too hype about anything.
02:19 But I mean, what are the emotions after that kind of shot and
02:23 then after you get the stop defensively?
02:26 >> A lot of emotions.
02:27 I don't even know how to describe them.
02:29 It was a lot of excitement, honestly.
02:32 We've battled together as a team.
02:34 This whole season's been about ourselves,
02:36 been about growing together, being connected.
02:38 And we were so connected today.
02:39 >> Jeannie, I know Skyler maybe didn't show up in the box quarter time, but
02:44 she comes up with the save ball.
02:46 She gets the defensive stop on the other end.
02:48 How big was she for you guys?
02:49 I mean, she also was dealing seemingly with an injury during the game.
02:52 >> Right, Sky is always huge.
02:55 And I thought it was really impressive in the first half.
02:59 I thought Peyton really stepped up when Sky was gone.
03:02 And it wasn't, obviously, I know she scored, but I think it was more than that.
03:06 I think she talked.
03:06 I think she just was like, okay, this is where we're at.
03:09 This is what we're gonna have to be able to do.
03:11 Cuz everybody, I mean, there were a lot of fouls called.
03:14 There's a lot of charges.
03:15 There's all these things, right?
03:16 And so I feel like we need to do a better job of handling that.
03:22 But at the same time, I felt like we did a great job of handling that.
03:25 And I think Sky has led us in that.
03:27 Because Sky has grown so much in just staying steady and
03:30 just keep playing and just stay in the moment.
03:32 And when she does that, she gives that confidence and
03:36 that edge to everybody else to do the same thing.
03:38 Cuz she falls down, she misses a shot, but she keeps going.
03:42 And so she has led us more in that capacity than even hitting the big shot.
03:48 >> Jenny, there's 4.5 seconds left.
03:52 Time call, I think they call it.
03:54 What are you telling your team defensively?
03:58 >> First, I was really mad at my son because we were literally in the car on
04:00 the way over.
04:01 And he says, you know the worst thing?
04:03 When you're up one and there's five seconds left.
04:05 >> My gosh.
04:06 >> Yeah, that's what he says, in the car on the way over.
04:10 No, I think, yeah, for real, I know.
04:14 He's like, I predicted it.
04:15 I was like, don't be so happy.
04:16 >> [LAUGH] >> But yeah, and so
04:19 that was the first thought.
04:20 And I was like, okay, and then you pray.
04:22 And then, no, actually yes, but- >> Yes.
04:27 >> [LAUGH] >> But no,
04:29 I think we've gone over so many end of game situations.
04:32 And we faced a lot of those situations where you have to get a stop.
04:35 And so I think we were really convicted.
04:38 Now, it was hard not having Peyton in, right?
04:40 And so then you're in different positions than maybe what you normally are in.
04:44 But I think that's what Kennedy Tucker provides too,
04:46 is that she can be in multiple positions.
04:48 So I felt really good about what we needed to do.
04:52 And we also knew if they were gonna hit a good shot,
04:56 then they're gonna hit a good shot.
04:57 But you still have to be there.
04:59 You still have to talk.
05:00 You still have to be able to get the rebound.
05:02 You still have to be able to do all those things.
05:04 And so I thought they read it really well.
05:06 I thought Skyler went over the double really well.
05:08 And cuz Madison Booker is so good.
05:10 She's very, very good.
05:12 And so you kinda knew that it was gonna go to her.
05:15 But we were in an end of game situations there too.
05:17 So we knew some of them.
05:19 We didn't know that one.
05:20 But yeah, that's it.
05:24 I mean, we knew what we were in.
05:25 We knew we needed to talk.
05:26 And we knew we had to do it together.
05:28 >> It seemed like your defense was at its strongest in the fourth quarter.
05:33 I know they were missing a couple players there late.
05:35 But what do you think led to that?
05:36 It seemed like you made some adjustments on the defensive side.
05:40 What was kind of the goal of those?
05:42 >> Yeah, I mean, we zoned a little bit more in the second half.
05:44 I mean, Booker was really hurting us.
05:45 And I feel like we tried to make some of, but again,
05:49 I think she hit some really tough shots.
05:51 And then we started to foul too much.
05:54 And so then we started putting them on the free throw line.
05:55 So we did go to the zone a little bit.
05:57 But then we gave up a couple boards on that too.
06:00 So that's, you kinda have to pick some of your poison in that.
06:04 But again, I feel like it was less about that and what kind of defense we were in.
06:11 I think we've also gotten to where we're comfortable in those situations,
06:15 cuz we've been in so many of them.
06:17 And we've won some and we haven't won some.
06:19 And so that's where I think we just continue to learn and grow.
06:23 That's it.
06:24 >> Lexine Payton, you guys were down double digits first quarter,
06:27 third quarter, even fourth quarter.
06:29 What does it say about the resiliency of this team to just continue to fight and
06:33 battle back?
06:34 >> I think it just shows the trust that we have in each other, like you said.
06:40 Yeah, we were down, Skyler went down with an injury.
06:42 Or we didn't know whether she's coming back or not.
06:44 But I think it was just kinda like double down and trust in each other.
06:47 Trust people that we had there.
06:49 And trust the play calls we had, trust our defense.
06:51 And so I feel like we work all year on trust and building our chemistry.
06:57 And so that's what we can rely on in games like that.
06:59 >> I think our connectedness just showed.
07:01 It was the next man up and playing for the person that went down.
07:05 And I think that's what kinda gave us a spark, honestly.
07:08 Just wanted to get that for Sky.
07:10 >> You go up there in transfers.
07:13 Is this what you come here for, is to win a Big 12 title?
07:17 And just how does that feel?
07:18 >> I mean, it feels great.
07:21 I think the best thing about playing here is that I play with a smile on my face and
07:28 I can play for representing things like my faith.
07:31 And so I think it's just easy to play when you can just be loose and have fun.
07:35 >> Yeah, absolutely.
07:37 I don't think it's you need transfer, it's to win a Big 12 or this and that.
07:41 But the tradition here is amazing and everyone knows that.
07:44 This program's amazing, this team's amazing.
07:47 Playing against them, I knew that going into it.
07:49 And so, like P said, what you play for is so much bigger than the end result.
07:56 >> Jenny, you spoke yesterday about the community that you wanna build around
07:59 this program and as clock hits zero, this place goes crazy.
08:03 Where does that watch over you or how in that moment out there?
08:08 >> Yeah, that made me speechless too because you could feel it.
08:13 And you know what?
08:15 There was at one point in the game where I'm upset and I turned to our bench cuz
08:19 I'm trying not to show too much being upset about something, right?
08:23 And then I just, our fans are cheering.
08:27 They're not booing, they're not yelling at the ref.
08:30 I mean, I'm sure they did.
08:32 But they were just in it with us.
08:35 And that to me was a huge step forward for where we're at building a women's
08:41 basketball fan base is that they were in it with us and cheering.
08:46 And they're on their feet and they just willed that win.
08:50 I really feel like that.
08:51 And it was less about, we talked about this all day yesterday,
08:55 right, I didn't want people to come and have their Texas horns down and all that.
09:01 That doesn't drive us.
09:03 We have a bigger purpose of what drives us.
09:05 And I feel like our fans really did that today.
09:08 I feel like they were just in it with us and they were here with us.
09:12 >> Wow.
09:13 >> Do you know what kind of confidence this kind of win give,
09:17 put you in this team when it comes to the offenses struggling throughout the game,
09:22 the turnovers, but you guys find different ways to win in a big game against
09:26 a tough opponent, what does that do for this team looking forward?
09:29 >> Well, again, you look at this game, if you look at this game, and
09:31 I don't know if it's necessarily a confidence builder.
09:34 It's more of anything can happen.
09:37 So you gotta keep going, regardless of what the scoreboard says.
09:40 And if you look at the stat sheet, we shouldn't have won this game, right?
09:43 Now there's one stat that's really good and it's rebounding, right?
09:46 But we turned it over too much, we didn't shoot that well.
09:48 We didn't have enough movement.
09:49 We had way too many, our free throws weren't even great.
09:53 And they have 28 free throws on your home floor.
09:57 So there's a lot of those things that didn't go that well.
10:01 And so I think the biggest thing for us, and I think we've had a lot of those,
10:06 where you've been downtown and it's like, okay, well,
10:09 let's figure out how to come back.
10:11 And it can't be one person, it's gotta be all of us.
10:13 And then we've had some where we've been up, some, and
10:16 other people have come back.
10:17 And so I think this is just another one of those where it's a game of basketball,
10:21 it's a beautiful game.
10:23 You just gotta keep playing, and you gotta play cuz you love it,
10:26 not cuz you have to.
10:27 >> Last year you had the big three, and
10:32 it kind of made sense that you could win a big 12 championship.
10:37 They all leave.
10:38 >> There's a compliment in this, right?
10:39 >> Yeah.
10:40 >> Okay. >> Scott just goes down with injury.
10:43 Probably no one thought this was even possible, but
10:46 just what does it mean to get here to this point to do it back to back?
10:51 [MUSIC]
11:01 >> I'm really,
11:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]
11:13 I'm really proud that we didn't quit in December.
11:19 And I'm really proud, and when I say we, the players aren't gonna quit,
11:23 they're gonna follow whatever we do.
11:26 And when it's we, it's not just as a coach, it's our academic advisor,
11:30 it's our athletic trainer, it's our strength coach, it's our marketing people.
11:36 I mean, you name it, the number of people that impact these women on a daily basis.
11:42 And when things like that don't go well, people don't talk well.
11:46 It's you guys in the room and the story that you're sharing out there.
11:49 That's why we're doing this.
11:54 It's not cuz of X's and O's coaching.
11:56 Hell, every time out I felt like we turned it over in what we were calling.
12:01 And we struggled in some of that, but it's those people that stayed,
12:06 we stayed together to allow them to grow and to keep going.
12:11 And a lot of times you don't have that because I tell you what,
12:14 when I was at Drake, there were four people I managed.
12:16 When I come here, now all of a sudden, they're coming at it everywhere,
12:20 the number of people that touch our student athletes.
12:22 And so those are the people that matter.
12:24 Those are the people, it's your dietician who's with them and
12:27 the student workers that she has.
12:29 It's obviously everybody knows the athletic trainers,
12:31 everybody knows the strength coaches.
12:32 But it's all of those people that have a hand every single day.
12:38 It's our psychological resources.
12:41 It's those people every single day.
12:42 It's our administration that continues to believe in us to allow us to believe in
12:46 them because a lot of people had us packing our bags in December, not just them.
12:54 And again, we get comments like that all the time where we don't care
12:59 about what other people think.
13:00 We know we have one person we answer to and that's it.
13:02 And so we know that.
13:04 And so we're very convicted in that.
13:06 And so then we get to play this game that we like playing.
13:09 And then we get to do it with people that we didn't really know and
13:12 might not have really liked a year ago, but now we're a team.
13:16 This is what, and I said this last year, this is what America's supposed to be.
13:20 We're supposed to learn from each other, we're supposed to challenge each other,
13:22 we're supposed to fall down, roll up our sleeves, look in the mirror,
13:26 own our stuff, and move forward.
13:27 And you have to have positive people around you.
13:29 And we are so lucky that we have so
13:31 many positive people around us that keep believing in us.
13:35 So that's why all of this has happened.
13:38 It's because of all of those people that you're never gonna even know their names.
13:42 But we know, and they know.
13:44 >> Mm-hm.
13:44 >> You guys, thank you for filling this room today.
13:51 And it means more than you know, and I know I say that, but I really do.
13:55 Thank you for being here.
13:56 >> Thank you.