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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 3, 2016

Seattle, Washington

Arizona - 74, Oregon - 68

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Oregon, Coach Kelly Graves, Lexi Peterson, and Jacinta Vandenberg. Coach, I'll have you open and then we'll take questions.

KELLY GRAVES: Well, first of all, I do want to congratulate Coach Butts, and their staff and teammates. They earned it today. They deserved it. They were by far the better team. She's a good lady, and I think she's a really good coach and they've done a nice job. They certainly did a great job today. From our end I'm very disappointed, obviously. I just think we got off to a good start which we knew we needed. We didn't want to give these guys any hope. But my goodness, they shot lights out. It was an incredible performance that they had certainly in that first half. But I'm proud of this group that I have. I thought we played hard right to the finish.

I'm really proud of Lexi, and I thought Lexi played really well tonight, played with a lot of heart. Jacinta, everybody talks about who we don't have, and obviously we miss Jill and Jordan. The timing wasn't great, but I thought Jacinta did a really nice job for us, especially early, that's what we needed. Unfortunately, we just didn't defend with enough passion to earn a victory, and that's what it came down to.

Q. Lexi, when you guys get off to that fast start and you're up 8 points, where do you think the game changed so dramatically after that?
LEXI PETERSON: I think like Coach said, it was on the defense, and they started to get really hot and they're shooting really well, and we didn't make an adjustment, and we needed to just play defense a little harder and make them feel uncomfortable, and I don't think we did that.

Q. Jacinta, what was your game plan to help fill that void with Jill today? It seemed like you were more aggressive on offense and just battling out there. How much did it hurt to get in foul trouble earlier?
JACINTA VANDENBERG: My game plan today was to be a scorer. That's what we lost was a rebounder and scorer in Jill. And we had such great shooters, but I needed to be present inside in order to get them open more. Obviously foul trouble always hurts. We had a couple of stupid fouls, but, yeah.

Q. Kelly, what was the plan with the smaller lineup there at the end, and how did that help you guys get within -- I think you got within three points there?
KELLY GRAVES: Well, we had to do something. They were comfortable, like Lexi had said, most of the night. We had to change the tempo somehow, so we just opted to go small, put a lot more pressure on them. It's not really our game, but thought the kids did a nice job. We got ourselves back into it in a couple of silly turnovers, and we gave them a couple easy buckets, and again, they shot it well.

But I liked what I saw with that group. I thought we did a nice job of at least turning them over a little bit and changing the tempo. We gave ourselves a chance in the last four, five minutes of the game.

Q. Coach, looking forward beyond the tournament, how important is this potential postseason run for figuring out what life is going to be like without Jillian Alleyne next year?
KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, well, you know, we'll see how it goes if we play somewhere. Somebody's got to invite us somewhere, I guess, at some point. But, yeah, I think it's a great opportunity for young kids to get some action and be better. I think we've got a big group coming in next year, and obviously we lose six really good seniors, including two that are already gone. But I'm of the opinion you play as long as you can. I think it's a positive regardless of what happens. But, yeah, life without Jill, well, we've seen it in the last three games. It's not pretty. I think it's a real testament to her. That's how great a player she is and deserves every accolade she gets, and I think she's the key to us. We really struggled. We're one of the better three-point shooting teams in the nation, but if you don't have that player inside that commands the double team and a lot of attention, you don't get a lot of open threes, and everything has to come off a set. That's not the way we play really.

Yeah, we'll be fine. We're going to move on. I think the program is in a great place. We won 20 games in our second year, and hopefully can win some more. But I'm proud of the group. I really am. I think we've gotten a lot out of this group. I truly do. And we've put ourselves in a position to make a post-season run all the way to the end.

Q. Coach, this game and the last week and a half, I know you talk about Jill, it's kind of been an emotional roller coaster for you guys. It seemed like a gritty and emotional game toward the end and the character and how your team fought back. Can you talk about that?
KELLY GRAVES: They've got a lot of fight in them, they do. I'm really proud. It's led by both of these guys, especially Lexi. I thought Lexi tonight played a really great basketball game and gave it everything she had. I've never complained about this team not playing hard. I've really enjoyed this group. We've got, I think, just amazing young women. They play hard. They play the right way. They treat each other right. They treat coaches right. This is a good group, it really is, and they've earned what we've gotten. It obviously always ends bittersweet for everybody, except for one team, and in the end it's bittersweet tonight.

Q. Lexi, the six seniors, do you guys think with your chemistry that you'd enjoy playing more together in the WNIT or do you think the disappointment of being so close to the NCAA that it will be hard to overcome that?
LEXI PETERSON: Obviously, it's hard how close we were, but I mean, speaking for myself, I would love to continue to play. You know, I've had such a good time and long run at Oregon, and I just want to finish on a good note. I think we could come together and really make a run.

Q. Lexi, what was it like just having Jill right there on the bench, considering how you didn't have her last weekend? Was it sort of a sense of playing for Jill and Jordan tonight?
LEXI PETERSON: Oh, yeah, definitely. I think last weekend was obviously a shock for all of us going down to the Bend and playing. We weren't really prepared to play without them. But tonight having them here and encouraging us was really helpful.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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