WBB: Tech suffers their first loss against OU  71-68

The #10 Lady Red Raiders scored first in Norman but then hit a wall with 4-and-a-half minutes left in the game. Tech was leading by 7 points with 4:58 minutes on the clock but only hit two FT shots after that and OU closed the gap and went ahead.

It was a very tough and tight game.

I had hoped we could stay undefeated and hoped that the Lady Red Raiders would give Coach Curry her first win in Norman.

Tech will need to regroup and reenergize and get ready for Saturday's game against Kansas State in Lubbock.

Stats and Quotes are after the break ....

Christine Hyde had 21pts (2 of 3 3ptrs) and 3 rebounds

Kierra Mallard scored only 8pts but had 11 rebounds and 3 blocks

Kelsi Baker had 6 pts and 5 rebounds

Casey Morris scored 5pts and had 4 rebounds

Monique Smalls scored 6pts and 3 rebounds and 2 steals

Jordan Barncastle had 8pts (2 of 4 3ptrs) and 1 rebound

Chynna Brown had 8pts, 4 rebounds and 2 steals

Shauntal Nobles scored 6pts and had 3 rebounds and 1 block

Points in the paint TTU 22 OU 30

Points off turnovers TTU 18 OU 4

2nd chance points TTU 5 OU 13

Fast break points TTU 6 OU 2

Bench points TTU 22 OU 19

Score tied 9 times

Lead changed 21 times

Last FG TTU 2^nd 04:58 OU 2^nd 00:12

Largest lead TTU by 7 2^nd 08:54 OU by 5 1^st 03:24

Head Coach Kristy Curry

On the game:

"We just didn't do a very good job. I think the first thing you have to do today is credit Oklahoma. I think the worst thing you can do in these situations is criticize mistakes we made and not credit the other team. We hear that all the time. So credit Oklahoma for being able to make more plays down the stretch than we did, and that's the bottom line."

On the battle every game in the Big 12 looks like it will be:

"Well the thing is that's why you have to have short term memory in this league. It's really important that you understand it right now; you have 15 more games to play. So much can happen. When we move to an 18-game schedule with no bye week, it's going to come down to toughness and perseverance and staying positive and staying together and having short term memory. And if you don't have it, you better find it real quick. Whether something good happens or something like tonight happens to us. You have to lace up those shoes and be ready to go tomorrow and turn the page and continue to improve throughout the year."

Guard Christine Hyde

On her second half:

"I just felt that plays needed to be made. We were kind of moving sort of slow so I just tried to speed up the process. Coach Curry talks about instant gratification, so I guess that's what I was doing a little bit. But I just felt like we needed a run to start the second half."

Guard Monique Smalls

On sustaining the tempo:

"We want to push the tempo because when we push the tempo we get easy buckets. So we don't let the defense set up. It was kind of like run the tempo, run back, do plays. Run a couple offenses, run the tempo. I mean we're doing different stuff because we can't run the whole game because we would tire ourselves out. You have to be mentally prepared and just run things and be smart."