It was a longshot that the SLU women’s basketball team would beat fifth-ranked Oklahoma, but it was pretty safe that the Billikens would learn a lesson from the game. Oklahoma won 87-61, shooting 56 percent from the field, 58 percent on 3-pointers and being in control of the game throughout. The attendance was announced as 2,018, a school record for a women’s game, though I don’t know how they differentiated between fans who were there for the women’s game and those who just came early for the men’s game.

So what did coach Shimmy Gray-Miller learn?

“We’re at our best when we’re tough and when we’re aggressive,” she said. “If we play tough and aggressive, we may not be good enough to beat the fifth-ranked team in the nation, but we’re good enough to compete. We are at our worst when we are passive and soft and when we’re passive and soft we don’t belong in the same gym as the fifth-ranked team in the nation. I liked us better when we’re tough and aggressive and that’s where we going to try to head for the rest of the season.”

Gray-Miller said she didn’t think her team was intimidated – ”Were you?” she asked Theresa Lisch, standing next to her. “Honestly,” Lisch said, “I don’t think we were intimidated, because if they were, they would have jumped on us earlier.” – but just not tough enough. “I thnk it’s like a mental toughness thing,” she said, “like when you’re fatigued and don’t think you can go any more and ‘Well, I’ve done so well and I’ve boxed her out five times and I’ll let this time go and I’ve sprinted the floor three straight times and so no one will notice if I jog this time.’ It’s more mental toughness. I definitely don’t think my kids are intimidated, because that starts at the top and I’m not intimidated by anything.”

The softness was, she thought, confined to moments, and in those moments, Oklahoma ran off lots of points.

Oklahoma star Courtney Paris had 13 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes of action, though Gray-Miller was pleased with the play of Amanda Kemezys, who was guarding her, saying it might have been Kemezys best game. “I’m sorry her shots weren’t falling,” Gray-Miller said. Kemezys was four of 12 from the field.

Said Lisch: “I think this game is a great leanring experience. We were able to see how we measured up against one of the best women’s basketball teams in the nation. I think we learned at times we can compete. We learned our lapses, where we don’t box out, where we give up transition points, that’s really going to be something that might be our Achilles heel right there. If we want to take our team and program to the next level, we have to be more consistent just all around.”