Patty Gasso addresses how pressure has decreased for Tiare Jennings

As Oklahoma enters the NCAA tournament and chases what would be an historic fourth consecutive national title, there’s been undeniable pressure to perform. Senior shortstop Tiare Jennings, one of the top players in the country, is no exception.

And head coach Patty Gasso discussed how a bit of a mindset shift has helped Jennings let the pressure fall away during the later stages of the season. Now that the NCAA tournament is here, she can zero in on one last run at a national title.

“And Tiare’s commitment is ‘I am going to leave all that behind me and I’m just going to focus on my last three weeks as a Sooner,'” Gasso said. “And when she did that, you could feel things start to fall off her a little bit. She has a story very similar to Syd Romero, I think there was a little conversation between the two of them. They’ve been long time friends. So yeah, all I want is the best for these guys. I want them to walk off saying, ‘I left it all all here.’ And we talked about that.”

And from where Gasso sits, there’s plenty that weighs on players beyond just playing winning softball.

“There’s been a lot of pressing and their lives are so different,” Gasso said. “I can’t even tell you what they’re doing in their lives because they have a lot of obligations with opportunities, and make money. They’ve added that, there’s just added — a senior now. There’s just a lot of added, we’ve already talked a lot about this. And Tiare, they just got drafted. You know, everything is just always coming at them.”

Gasso feels buoyed by Oklahoma’s Big 12 tournament run

Ahead of the Norman Regional, Gasso met with the media. There, she emphasized how much Oklahoma needed that performance during the Big 12 Tournament to get things figured out before that NCAA Tournament run began.

“I think we definitely needed to feel that,” Patty Gasso said. “I think we’re over some of those bumps. Now, we’re getting to a place where your season could be over from this point on. Your season could be over on any weekend. So, how badly do you want to keep playing? How badly do you want to toe the line with your girls and where do you want to go?”

To this point in the season, Oklahoma is an impressive 46-6. However, after losing just eight total games in three seasons, it can feel like a lot more losing than Patty Gasso and the Sooners are used to. In particular, the five Big 12 losses after losing just two conference games in the previous three seasons hurt.

Now, however, with the pressure turned up, Oklahoma was able to respond and make the run through the Big 12 Tournament.

“It’s hot. It’s humid. There’s just no excuses now, for anybody. You can’t make excuses. You have to own it. You’ve got to find solutions to things that aren’t working and find the solution fast,” Gasso said.

“So, that’s where we’re at. I think they all know it, and we’re going to put our best out there.”