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NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

March 30, 2017

Dallas, Texas

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Stanford.

We will open with a comment from Coach VanDerveer, then we'll take questions for the student-athletes.

COACH VanDERVEER: Well, we're very excited to be here. Our team has, I think, had a great season, worked very hard. The reason I'm sitting up here today, one of the main reasons is because of the three next to me, not just their outstanding play, but their outstanding leadership and their commitment to their teammates and to Stanford.

I think the seniors, I'm really so proud of their senior year. I hope they are also equally proud of it. It's just been a lot of fun working with them, and to see their growth and development and improvement. We want to keep it going.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Erica, there was such a sort of joyous release when you won that game, which was very tight and tense. How do you -- you switched gears to being so excited to be here to be excited to stay here and keep playing?
ERICA McCALL: I think it's like Tara said, we switch gears fast. Coming off the win from Texas, we had to emotionally click the switch on and get ready for Notre Dame. Got to celebrate for maybe one day afterwards.

That game against Notre Dame is back behind us know. We're focused on South Carolina, and I think we're ready to go.

Q. Karlie, how does the experience of having played with your older sister in the Final Four compare to now playing with a younger sister on another team?
KARLIE SAMUELSON: Yeah, it's different 'cause she's on a different team this time (smiling).

It's just as fun. We got to hang out a little bit at the salute dinner last night at the ranch. Yeah, it's definitely a different experience because we're not working for the same thing, but we're both excited to be here.

Q. Erica, could you talk a little bit about A'ja Wilson and the challenges she presents. She's 6'5", dominating the paint, especially in the tournament.
ERICA McCALL: Yeah, Wilson is a great player. Finishing really well down low. I think it's going to be a big battle for us.

I'm really excited for the matchup, though, one of the best players in the nation, get to battle against her. I'm looking forward to that matchup.

Definitely looking forward to the challenges, however, because she can finish well down low. She finishes well with her left hand. So I'm definitely going to need some help from my teammates, but I think we can take on the challenge.

Q. Bri, I want you to travel back in time a little bit, OC Rhythm, Carlos and all that. You saw the Samuelsons, you were all kids in that gym. Is it weird? You have your roommate, you knew (Katie) Lou (Samuelson) on the other side. Tell us what it was like back then.
BRIANA ROBERSON: I mean, it was really fun. We had little nicknames for each other. We worked out. We had OC Rhythm clinics. I don't know, I knew they were special players even back then. Their work ethic getting to the clinics early, all of us really. We all did have the same trainer growing up, Jason Wright.

I knew through their work ethic, they were going to be special. It's not a surprise that we're all here today.

Q. Karlie, when you came to Stanford, the spot-up shot was a given, but your offensive efficiency is basically throughout everything you do. I'm curious how you trace that development of being able to score in every conceivable way, and if you see any weakness in your offensive game?
KARLIE SAMUELSON: I definitely see weaknesses. I think I'm best at my three-point shot. I've definitely gotten better from my freshman year to now in scoring different ways.

But, yeah, there's obviously a lot I can work on. I am proud of where I've come, but I think my teammates do a really good job of giving me the ball, the place I like most, which is behind the three-point line.

Q. Karlie, another question about Lou. Do you have any agreement on a communications blackout at any point? Are you texting freely at the moment and deciding at some point you will go in your respective corners if it comes to that?
KARLIE SAMUELSON: We're texting freely, of course. We're talking. Obviously if we both win, we're probably going to focus just on the game. Haven't thought about that too much. Really just focusing on each other's games this Friday, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies.

We'll take questions for Coach VanDerveer.

Q. Coach, there was a time, I mean, the first six you were here every year. It was almost taken for granted Stanford was going to be in the Final Four, like UConn. Having a couple years when you didn't make it, does it make you appreciate it more getting back here?
COACH VanDERVEER: Yes. It's never easy to get here. We're very fortunate to be here this year. I think that, you know, women's basketball, there are -- when we first went in 1990, I think there had been total of eight or nine teams that had ever been to the Final Four. Obviously now there's a lot more.

But it's harder. Sometimes you just need the right matchup, make a big play. We're really excited to be back.

It's not like we've been gone too long, though. I think we went for a stretch, then we were off for about 11 years. This is better than that (smiling).

Q. Would you characterize your relationship with Dawn when she was a player for you on the '96 (Olympic) team, what your relationship has been with her since.
COACH VanDERVEER: I think I've always had a very good relationship with Dawn. But, you know, sometimes as a player, you're going to tell 'em things they don't want to hear. So, I mean, Dawn could probably tell you a couple stories of things that maybe she didn't want to hear from me.

I always have respected Dawn's competitiveness, her work ethic, her absolute passion for the game of basketball.

If she tells you she beat me in chess, she's a liar (smiling). We just compete. I love Dawn. I'm so proud of her. Not surprised at all.

I think she's just a great role model for the young women coming up. I mean, she carried our country's flag. She's everything you could look for in a coach, and a friend. It's just a great story. I just want her to keep it going.

I texted her 'congratulations' after the Florida State win. We had been in communication because of her being, you know, announced as the national team coach. I said, I have just one problem, I can't cheer for you on Friday night.

Q. Coach, when the Cal men's job was open, a columnist in the Bay Area wrote he thought you would be a good candidate. Not to get you to talk about that in specifics. The NBA commissioner recently said he wants to have a woman's coach in the NBA. What do you think it's going to take for a woman to coach either a men's college team or perhaps coach an NBA team?
COACH VanDERVEER: I think it will just take someone that has some vision like maybe Gregg Popovich having Becky Hammon.

It's just a matter of giving people opportunity. I just think there are really qualified female coaches. I just think it's just a matter of time. The same way we got maybe close to having a female president. It's just a matter of time.

Q. Tara, you've coached a lot of great players, whether it's Candice Wiggins, Nneka (Ogwumike), Chiney (Ogwumike). It was pretty clear in important moments who the ball was going to. When you have a group now that the points are spread out, more of a collective, how has your coaching changed, particularly in late-game situations?
COACH VanDERVEER: I need more antacid (smiling).

It's very challenging. You know, a lot of it is game-to-game. This has been a great year for our team, and a great growth for our team, growth for me, to really figure out this puzzle. As you pointed out in a nice way, it's a challenge.

We have to figure out during the game, and that might be why sometimes it takes us a while to get going. This is what's available. This is what we're looking for. Bri (Roberson) or Marta (Sniezek) or Alanna (Smith), it's not always going to be the same person.

There was a comfort, kind of a sense of comfort when Chiney was going to come to the game and give you 25 points, 15 rebounds. There was a security in that.

But at the same time there's a real excitement with this team, just to say, Hey, we're going to have to make game-time adjustments. Their confidence and their resilience has been really fun.

But we do go kind of with the hot hand.

Q. Tara, how do you assess A'ja Wilson at this point in her career, both as an offensive and defensive player?
COACH VanDERVEER: I mean, she's terrific. First of all, she's very athletic, a skilled player. Can hit the outside shot. She scores low, runs the floor well. The team, they get her the ball. She plays with some really good guards that get her the ball.

She's the proverbial load. You have to play really hard to play against her. I know our team will battle her, but it's not going to be easy.

Q. Tara, you were just talking about how many qualified female coaches there are. Earlier today, Geno said maybe the number of female coaches coaching women's teams right now has gone down because fewer women want to coach. Do you agree with that? If not, what do you see as the reason why there are maybe fewer female head coaches coaching women's teams right now?
COACH VanDERVEER: Well, I would say one thing. Women aren't recycled in the way that men are. I've had this conversation today already a little bit. But, you know, last year, as Tom knows, I was very close to Johnny Dawkins, who was let go at Stanford. Great guy. Great guy. I went in the day he was let go. I kind of embarrassed myself. I started crying in his office. He's consoling me. 'Hey, Tara, I didn't get it done.'

I told my friend about it. My friend said, 'Don't worry, he'll get a job in a week.'

That does not happen with women coaches. There is a lot more competition for women coaches. There are women out there. Maybe research has shown that women, sometimes they need to check all the boxes before they take a job, whereas a guy will check two or three. Okay, I can do that job.

As an example, for me at Stanford, I was at Ohio State, I had a very good job at Ohio State. Andy Geiger recruited me to Stanford. I said no the first time. He said, 'Let me bring you back.'

Maybe for women, you have to recruit women, you have to really support them a different way. And women have different roles in their families with children, things like that. If athletic directors want more women in women's basketball, maybe they have to look in the mirror and say, 'All right, how can we make this happen?'

I think it's on their -- it's their plate basically. There are women. If you want women in your jobs, you have to look to hire them. Keep the pipeline going, too. You know, get more women in the pipeline.

Q. Tara, on the offensive end, though you spread it around, Karlie is your most efficient scorer, but she's least efficient in isolation. How do you balance between getting the ball in her hands and being able to manage that, making sure you're getting it off the catch? And defensively, I'm curious whether you think there's an advantage to be able to play South Carolina, a team that plays at a slower pace, when you have been a lot more effective defensively in the halfcourt all season?
COACH VanDERVEER: All right, so offensively. Karlie with the ball is all good for me whenever she has it, wherever she has it. You know, maybe analytics say something different. Eye test says to give her the ball, get her a shot.

As far as playing South Carolina, honestly, we play whoever they put in our bracket. We're here, we're excited. If it was Mississippi State or Connecticut, you know, whoever it is, we're just going to do the best job we can getting prepared for who we're playing.

Sometimes in the tournament, like, people maybe overthink it or be careful what you wish for. I've just kind of adopted the philosophy, like, just be excited. I told our team, when the bracket comes out, I said, you know -- we knew we were going, thank goodness, because we were the second to last team announced, I said, 'Just pretend you won the lottery. No matter who you're playing, where you're playing, that's our attitude all the way through it.' I think we've kept it all the way through the tournament.

Q. Tara, Karlie, the last couple of years without playing for the first time in her life on a team without one of her sisters on and what you've seen in her growth, being on her own in that way. The second question, a bit about Dawn, what have you taught her that she might use against you tomorrow?
COACH VanDERVEER: Karlie has grown as a player. What I've noticed is she put more time into her game before practice, after practice. She's always the first one out. She'll be first out there shooting. We get to practice, she gets a hundred shots before anyone else gets out there. They're putting on their shoes, fixing their hair, whatever.

As far as what I taught Dawn, I hope she uses all those things that were bad things that I did (smiling).

I mean, Dawn is her own woman, her own coach. I just think if she learned anything from me, great. I don't know that I could say what it was. I know she's going to be really prepared and their team will play really hard.

Q. Tara, this is a question that has been brought up for years, but I'm curious to hear your response. Geno obviously gets it every time he's here. When you have one team that is so dominant, it's all anybody can do to get within 20 points of them, is that really good for women's college basketball or not? What is your opinion?
COACH VanDERVEER: I mean, I don't know. I don't think it's good and I don't think it's bad. I mean, it's what's happening.

Why should anyone be penalized for excellence? He does a great job, they get great players. Is it bad for women's basketball because it's not spread around? Maybe it brings more attention to it.

I don't really have a judgment on it. I don't think it's either good or bad. I think it's just what it is.

Q. Tara, once upon a time in your navigation of a season, all the heavy lifting was on the front end, and it was take care of business after January. This year it was quite different. How much did the upgrade in the Pac-12 help you?
COACH VanDERVEER: All right. The PAC-10 and PAC-12 I think has always been extremely competitive. I think it's alternate facts to think it was easy to go through the PAC-10 all those years with Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, all those great players, all right? I'm going to try to set the record straight.

It's not easy now either, all right? But it was never easy.

What has been the game changer in my mind has been Pac-12 Network, because now people see these players. If we didn't have Pac-12 Network, maybe we didn't get some of the better seeds that we've gotten, the same thing would happen over and over.

When people see a Kelsey Plum, Jordin Canada, Erica McCall, Karlie, they see these players. It has never been Stanford and the 10 little dwarfs. It's always been extremely competitive.

Pac-12 Network has been a game changer and it's been awesome, so...

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

COACH VanDERVEER: It's great to be here. Thank you all very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

March 30, 2017

Erica McCall

Briana Roberson

Karlie Samuelson

Tara VanDerveer