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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2015Ruth HamblinScott RueckSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Colorado – 68 THE MODERATOR: Oregon State is with us, Coach Scott Rueck and Ruth Hamblin. Coach, an opening statement and then we'll go from there. COACH RUECK: Hat's off to Colorado. They played a great, inspired game tonight. They brought great energy from the beginning. It took us a while to match it, and I liked different stretches of this game. I thought we really competed hard at times, but they made plays when they needed to. I felt like we had control a little bit. 60‑59 coming out of the timeout, I think, and it felt like an opportunity for us to separate just a little bit. We didn't take advantage of that, and then they made big plays down the stretch and hit big shots. So hat's off to Colorado. They played a great game. Q. Ruth, did you feel like you guys maybe didn't match their energy in the early part of the game? RUTH HAMBLIN: I think we started out a little bit ‑‑ they had the advantage on the energy from us. But we came out and we answered. But then whenever we had a chance to gain momentum, I thought they answered right away. Q. Coach, what did Colorado do that caused the most problems for you? COACH RUECK: They made shots. I thought their post did a great job. I mean, Swan had a great game; finished well. Then Jen Reese took it over. For a stretch in the second half I thought that was a key stretch for them. It was kind of a segment of the game, just like the first time we played these guys, that's when we got away from them. Early in the second half, and then just gradually pulled away. During that stretch where it was like we were trying to get momentum, she kept answering, hitting big shots and kept them in. So, you know, they hit big shots. If you look at the shooting numbers, obviously, we did not have a great shooting night tonight. And ultimately that was the difference in the game, I thought. Q. Ruth, what do you feel the difference was down the stretch? As Coach mentioned, you guys kind of looked like you might have the advantage and then just weren't able to create that separation. RUTH HAMBLIN: Yeah, just making plays I thought we had good looks and we just didn't hit the shots, and they did. Q. Have you guys had to learn how to be the frontrunner? How to be the team that everybody goes after? COACH RUECK: Well, I think it's a different perspective, for sure. But we've been that way for quite a while now. I don't think that factors in today. I really don't. I thought they brought better energy than us early. We didn't settle in and shoot the ball. I mean, they played here yesterday and won. They come in feeling good and loose and nothing to lose. By the time we settled into a rhythm, they had already‑‑ they felt like they could win this game, and we needed to come out with a little different defensive mindset. I thought we needed to be‑‑ I don't know. We needed to dictate the game a lot more than we did on that end of the floor. I know that. They were very comfortable, and that's something we need to be better at. Q. Ruth, you mentioned the energy level at the beginning of the game. I mean, being the Pac‑12 outright champ for the first time in school history, having that new banner, did you feel a little lax coming into this game? What was the mentality and energy level? RUTH HAMBLIN: I thought coming into this game we were all a little excited. Obviously they came in a bit higher than us, and they hit us first coming in, so that made a bit of a difference. COACH RUECK: Kresl, Kresl set the tone. She came out and just shot lights out. This team scored 18 points in the second half against us two weeks ago, three weeks ago on their home floor. Today they had 18 points in 4 minutes. That is a trend in the wrong direction. Q. Can this be a good thing or does losing two of your last three cause you some concern? COACH RUECK: Well, once to Stanford ‑‑ well, anytime you lose, you certainly need to look at things, no question. You have a choice of making it a positive or a negative. This group has always turned those into a positive. That's just obvious life lessons. So we've got to look at this and understand, hey, postseason basketball. These guys are fighting for their lives. This team knows that they've got another day to live. No matter what happens, now it's one and done from here on out. So when this team comes out with that mindset, like I mentioned last week and we're the hunter, like we did against Cal the other day, and like we have most of this season, we're a really good basketball team. When we take the foot off the gas pedal just a little bit, then teams have played with us. So I think it's a great lesson. There is basketball to be played, and so we need to approach it the right way and learn from it. Q. Both this loss and to Stanford you guys really struggled from three. Do you worry you're settling for too many threes? COACH RUECK: Looking back on it, I mean, it's something that makes you think that when they miss. But we're dealing with incredible shooters. We got so many good looks tonight. I mean, we got so many good looks; the ball just didn't go down. I thought we could have attacked more. We did get to the line quite a bit. We shot 19 free throws tonight and made a good percentage of them. Could we have done a little more? Maybe. But a three for us is like a lay‑up. So that's been true all year. It's always going to be a big part of what we do. Q. I have a feeling I know the answer but I'm going to ask anyway: How disappointing is it to come into this tournament and leave after one game? RUTH HAMBLIN: It's huge. Obviously, coming in last year we made such a deep run and we know what that feels like, and to have it shut down so early, it hurts a lot. But we know there is a lot of basketball ahead of us. And the only thing we can do from this is learn, adapt and change our game and prepare for the next game ahead of us, because that's all we've got at this point. Q. Scott, in your first year at Oregon State you had a lot of conversations with the media about being the team that surprised people. Now your role has flipped. How do you balance making sure your kids understand you can't lose games like this but not completely depleting their confidence? COACH RUECK: I think from any perspective, hunter or underdog or favorite, I think it's foolish to focus on any of it. I think you better just play the best possession you can. Honestly, that's my perspective of it. With this team we've learned we're going to get everybody's A‑game, and that's a privilege to be in that spot. And this team for most of the season has handled that very well. We've seen everybody's A‑game. So you miss some shots, they have a great night, you lose. That's all it is. So it's like okay. What can we do to improve? Let's move on. Q. Ruth, it's going to be a while before you guys play your next game. How do you hope this team responds and utilizes the next week and a half, two weeks before you play again in the NCAA Tournament? RUTH HAMBLIN: I hope we'll find a renewed energy in the basketball that's ahead of us, because postseason play it's anyone's game anytime. We know who we are as a team, so resolidifying our identity and defense is going to be huge in the next few weeks of practices that we have, and I think that will be key for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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