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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: DALLAS

March 25, 2016

Scott Rueck

Dallas, Texas

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Coach Scott Rueck from Oregon State. Coach, opening statement?

SCOTT RUECK: Okay. It's exciting to be here to represent an amazing institution and Oregon State University in the great city of Dallas. Been a Cowboy fan my whole life so nice to be down here, didn't mind being sent here. Just excited to represent this team, an amazing group of people. Really proud of what they have accomplished to this point, excited about the challenges ahead, been great to know DePaul a little bit, know Coach Bruno, and he does a fantastic job. They provided some great challenges, of course, an outstanding team. Look forward to a great game tomorrow and it's been a pleasure to prepare for them. It's been, I don't know, we're excited about the challenges.

Q. Scott, can you elaborate on DePaul? If you can compare them to anybody the Beavs have faced this season?
SCOTT RUECK: DePaul loves to score. They love to get out in transition and they love to run. I love that about them. They have five scorers all the time. Every coach wants that. It's hard to guard. We've faced some teams similar in the way they like to push the ball, certainly UCLA likes to get out and go, Troy, from last weekend likes to get out and go. Certainly we played Notre Dame who loves to run at that same rate. So it's a contrast in styles.

We're a team that doesn't want you to be able to do that. We want to control tempo, so this game is going to be a contrast in that regard. It's one who is going to force their will and impose their will, I should say, the most.

So what I like about them, I think they're just -- they seem supremely confident and I'm impressed by that. One through eight or however deep they want to go, each player comes in looking to score. If you make a mistake they make you pay and that's a difficult team to play against.

They change defenses up, you know. So they do their best to keep you off guard or maybe just speed you up. So they can get the ball back and push it at you. It's one that you cannot relax, it's going to be a great defensive challenge for us, one that's been fun to prepare for and it will be -- it's going to be an awesome challenge.

Q. Scott, you just mentioned long way from home. Does this feel different than the first two rounds as far as just the atmosphere, you're in an NBA arena? I know you've been to this state of a tournament at this level, but these players haven't. Does the stage feel bigger than what it's been the last couple of years?
SCOTT RUECK: This room is a little bigger. We've been in all kinds of different arenas and certainly I haven't even been out there yet to be honest. So that stuff has to be put out of our mind. Those are realities of the situation. The stage is bigger, no question.

It's been a gradual progression, though, and I think that's kinda the -- epitomizes our program, just the gradual progression from one thing to the next. This season has been that as well. I feel like we've continued to improve as the season has wore on. We played really well in the Pac-12 tournament, on a big stage last weekend. We had a great weekend on both ends of the floor, played great.

So this is the next progression. It's coming here and doing what we do. I think this group is a mature one. It's a veteran team. They've been on huge stages across the country and nonconference play. Now it's time for them to go do their thing here. That just comes down to fundamentals, taking care of the basketball, doing our thing offensively and being who we are defensively and sticking solely to that and putting our focus on that and just being the toughest team that fights together as one unit and executes as well as we have as a group. That's what it's going to demand for anybody to win at this level and at this time.

Q. Just follow-up, you've been in this situation at a different level. Is there anything that you can take from those experiences that you can give to the players even the coaches, what to maybe expect? Or is it just a completely different situation?
SCOTT RUECK: Just that. It's basketball. When it gets down to it it's just basketball. So you've got to get your mind in that place. That's for us as coaches, too, we just gotta coach the game.

I think the number one thing this time of year, everybody is good, and you need to expect adversity. I think that's probably who handles adversity the best wins this time of the year.

There is a resilience there that everybody has to show and you have to execute through that adversity. So that's been kind of our mantra throughout the postseason and that will continue. So I think for us coaches it's making sure that it remains -- everything remains the same, within the context of all of this.

Q. Scott, you said that you know Coach Bruno a little bit. How do you guys know each other? He's obviously been a staple in women's basketball for 30 years. What do you know about his style and the way he coaches his team?
SCOTT RUECK: Well, I got to meet him last spring and we got to spend a few days together, not all the time but we were in the same place for a few days. He's a character! He loves hockey. I know that. I know he loves hockey, so there is something about hockey that I love, too. It's a constant fast break and that's kinda how he coaches, you know, a constant fast break and everybody is on the move all the time. He loves constant motion. He loves his offense to be unpredictable to the defense. They love to take advantage of every opportunity they can. They don't like to miss any, you know? They like to create turnovers. They like to get out and go. From what I've learned -- and I'll be honest, I haven't studied his team necessarily until this week. I know they score a lot of points, though, I've seen that for years. I just like their unselfishness. It's similar to the way we play. They're what I would call somewhat nontraditional in that they don't have a true back-to-the-basket post player although they have five players that will go post up, and he runs an interchangeable offense, which, like I said, provides challenges.

But that's the fun of this whole thing is who can win the chess match when it comes to that stuff. Been very impressed by what I've seen. He obviously recruits high character, talented individuals. So I've been impressed by that as I've gotten to know their roster.

Q. You guys have had a couple of common opponents but you've never faced each other in the history of the programs. Can you learn anything from those Marquette and Notre Dame games or is that a nonfactor, part of the process?
SCOTT RUECK: St. Bonaventure as well. A little bit. I've looked -- you look at everything. You've got several days to prepare and there's no -- there is nothing you won't research and look at, so you use every resource that you have.

I think -- not really. Not really. I think they're just who they are and it's interesting to see those match-ups kinda go the way they did and in some way very similar to our match-ups with those teams. You know, I don't see them changing up a whole lot. They will give you different defensive looks, but offensively they do what they do no matter who their opponent is.

Q. You guys have been really competitive in practice and on the floor, but as soon as you guys step off the players are dancing all over the place and have a great camaraderie together. How much is that a key to your success and have you seen anything change, or is it still that way?
SCOTT RUECK: Same, same, this team is the same. That's the beauty of this group. Every day is fun. That's why it's sustainable in my opinion. This team has had high expectations on it the entire season being a top-10 team from day one, expected to win the conference which turned out to be the top conference in the country by RPI rating.

They've had pressure on them the entire way and within that the pleasure has outweighed it. That won't change. I don't think there is anything I could possibly do to even change this. I don't. I think this team knows who they are and we're certainly not going to change who they are. That's the beauty of them.

I think that's -- when you have something special that's it right there. They get to be themselves and they compete like crazy! You know, there is something magical about that where a group is going to reach its potential when it has that characteristic. Time to go to work, they switch that -- they flip that switch.

It's time to have fun and be each other's best friends, that switch is flipped, too; and they can go back and forth and it all melds into one. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of and get to be around each day.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much for your comments. Good luck.

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