Quotes from the Regional Field

Four games were played Friday in the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships' South Central Regional.

Here's what the coaches and student-athletes had to say about their quarterfinal matchups:

Northeastern State 88, UT-Permian Basin 68

Randy Gipson, NSU head coach: "I think we were emotionally into the game right from the start. We played with energy. We adjusted fairly quickly in defending them the way we wanted to as far as guarding against their dribble penetration. They're a team that is a different preparation from anybody else we play. We struggled some with turnovers but we did move the ball well and finished well in the lane."

On UTPB: "It's just very difficult to simulate what they do. We don't see it very much in our league. We don't play with the same type of personnel they have. We needed to take care of the ball a little better. When we did move the ball well we found people in the lane and we were able to convert those shots. That helped to overcome our turnovers."

Jasmine Webb, NSU forward: "This game doesn't matter anymore and now it's all about UCO. We need to focus and play hard."

Taylor Lewis, NSU guard: On UTPB: "They're really scrappy – really quick. There were hands everywhere. We struggled at times, but overall we did what we needed to do and got through it pretty well."

Adam Collins, UTPB head coach: "It's been a good year. I told the girls in the locker room, because sometimes players aren't always aware of the history, that just five years ago this program won zero games. To go from there to the NCAA Tournament shows a tremendous amount of effort and talent on the players' parts."

Miesha Blackshear, UTPB guard/forward: "We went in at halftime and Coach (Collins) and my teammates were saying we needed to play harder. We didn't play as hard as we could have the first half. We came out with a different mindset in the second half."

Tammy Acosta, UTPB guard: On facing a 31-point deficit at half: "Our goal was to beat NSU in the second half and we accomplished it."

Central Oklahoma 65, Washburn 64

Guy Hardaker, UCO head coach: "When the officials reviewed the tape, it was conclusive that the light was on before the official called the foul. Heather (Davis) told me her knee buckled and she did fall on the girl. They said the light was on and the foul occurred after time expired. We feel lucky about that, and we've been on the other end of that. I really think our girls deserved it."

"We were a little sluggish defensively. We're not very deep. We lost six girls at the beginning of the season to season-ending injuries. We lost our point guard a month ago and now Courtney (Allen) is going to be out. It's a thin bench right now, but these girls take care of each other, pick each other up and when everyone is counting them out they never give up.

Alex Richardson, UCO post: "It's a team effort. Britney Morgan is an awesome point guard. She handles the ball well, she's smart and she'll get us the ball when we're open."

Ashley Beckley, UCO forward: On scoring winning points: "That's why you play the game. Coach called the play for us at the end of the game and it went our way. Britney Morgan made a heck of a pass that went right through two defenders and hit me in the hands. All I had to do was go up and finish it."

Ron McHenry, WU head coach: "The officials claimed they got a clear view of the clock (on video). That's really all I can say. I didn't get to see the view."

Alyssa Mullen, WU forward: "We had no returning starters and we were told by a lot of people that we were not good. We wanted to prove them wrong, and I think we did that. But there were those ups and downs. We only hit 50 percent of our free throws and that is not our team."

"It came down to a last-second foul, and it didn't go our way. But if we hit more of our free throws it's a completely different game."

Stevi Schultz, WU guard: On second half after first-half foul trouble: "I knew I was going to have to come out and score in the second half. If Cassie (Lombardino) and I aren't going, it's hard for our team to go because we're who our offense goes through."

Northwest Missouri State 93, Texas Woman's 72

Gene Steinmeyer, NWMSU head coach: "TWU is very quick and has very good passers. One of our main goals was to stop the perimeter shooting of (Brooke) Shepherd. She's a heck of a 3-point shooter. I think she's had 388 attempts coming into this game. That was what we were worried about the most. They were getting into foul trouble because of Gentry's (Dietz) offense. And that hurt them. They're speed worried us, but we're not a slow team. They got a lot of points from (Taja) Guerin that we really didn't expect early. But we survived it, and I think getting that double-digit lead before the half was really important to us."

On Gentry's 27 points: "One thing people forget is that Gentry was an all-MIAA pick a year ago. She's given up quite a bit to be a team player this year. The 27 points wasn't exactly a huge shock for us."

On Gentry being "overlooked..." "Well, if she was being overlooked, she won't be now. I don't think anybody overlooks anybody in our starting lineup. I think the lowest career high for anyone in our starting lineup is 25. I think four have been over 30. If you're going to overlook somebody, I don't know who it's going to be."

Abby Henry, NWMSU guard: "They had really good ball movement. We were told that we weren't getting as many tipped balls as we usually do, so that got us fired up. We were more aggressive in the passing lanes.

Gentry Dietz, NWMSU post: (On shooting 72 percent first half, 65 percent game) "I think they were struggling defensively and I heard them getting frustrated when they couldn't stop us. They'd double inside and outside shooters were hitting. That's frustrating. We've been on that end (defensively) when you're trying to stop people but they can't be stopped. We had a heck of a shooting effort."

Beth Jillson, TWU head coach: "Congratulations to Northwest Missouri. They did a great job. I thought we were okay at halftime. They were shooting 70 percent. I thought 'They can't shoot 70 percent the whole game.' They came out the second half and shot 58 percent. So they shot the ball well. I didn't feel like we had an answer for their inside game. Dietz really hurt us. And when we'd double down the outside shooters were hitting. Our players fought hard. They came back, they pressed, they fought to the end. That's what this team is all about – the fight they have in them. We had a great season and I don't want this single game to take away from all that we've accomplished."

Brooke Shepherd, TWU guard: On being a focus of Northwest's defense: "Well, they did a good job. They really did guard me hard out on the 3-point line. Obviously, that's what I like to do. Their defense definitely took a lot of looks away from all our players today."

Taja Guerin, TWU forward: On Northwest's inside players: "I think it took away from our aggressiveness to drive toward the basket – not so much from playing our inside game. We're very versatile and can play inside and out. We have a lot of quick people that like to get it to the bucket. I think we were a bit hesitant with someone 6-4 in the paint."

"Our gameplan was to take advantage of our quickness and our ability to shoot the ball outside. I think early on that we did do that. I think the second half we kind of shied away going around the big post and started settling for outside shots. We weren't moving on offense and got a little flustered. But I think this being our first time at regionals, that will improve. Next year when we're more prepared for a situation like this, we'll be ready for it."

On facing two players taller than her. "Yes, that was new. I don't think I've ever played against someone who was 6-4 (Kyla Roehrig). But life throw things at you and you've just got to know how to handle it and respond."

Tarleton State 86, Southeastern Oklahoma 75

Ronnie Hearne, TSU head coach: "This is a great group of girls. I'm not just talking about them as basketball players. They're great, great kids who show great leadership. It's an honor to be able to coach them. I'm so happy for them. They get to be a team for another day at least and play another game. I told them before that was what this game was all about – to be a team for another day and getting to play another game. I'm really proud of their effort."

Shelby Adamson, TSU guard, perfect from field, missed one free throw, scored 19: ON HER SHOOTING: "I didn't know that until I just saw it on the stat sheet. That's not about me, though. That's because of my teammates. That just goes to show that we won't go out easily because we're proud of our two seniors. Every game, we're going to fight to stay together as team.

Morgan Stehling, TSU forward: ON PULLING AWAY LATE: "We didn't want it to be a repeat of last time at the conference tournament in Bartlesville (1-point nailbiter). We wanted to put a run on them at the end and we did that."

Darin Gover, SOSU head coach: "When you put a team at the line 37 times, you're probably going to lose the game. It's going to be physical anytime you play against Tarleton. We played pretty physically too. We set a lot of screens out of our motion offense. It was that way again today, but both teams hit a lot more shots than at Bartlesville."

Christin Nichols, SOSU guard: On 20-win season: "The team, as a whole, was more of a family this year. We enjoyed being around each other. We enjoyed the practices and the games. The fact that we like each other off the court came out on the court."

Whitney Coffey, SOSU G/F: On 20-win season: "This team gets along well. I've never gotten along with so many girls, because (laughing) girls get on my nerves. There isn't one person on the team I don't like. We're really close, and like Christin said, we bring that on to the court."