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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2018Tara VanDerveerKiana WilliamsAlanna SmithSeattle, Washington Stanford - 58, Arizona State - 46. TARA VANDERVEER: We came out very aggressively offensively and knocked down big shots for us. Worked hard at the defensive end. Alanna running the floor, scoring threes, stayed out of foul trouble. We had a lot of people in foul trouble tonight; that didn't help our cause. But we were able to play everyone, and I thought a lot of different people helped us. Maya Dodson came in and gave us good minutes, Alexa Romano. So a lot of different people stepped up, and it was fun to see. Q. Alanna, late last season you really picked things up too and really kind of started to bust out a little bit. Do you have a sense that now it's time for you to do more, be more, contribute more? ALANNA SMITH: Yeah, as an upperclassman, I think you have to fall into that role anyway. So being one of the leaders of the team you kind of have to lead by example. But when you have other got players and freshmen like Kiana on the team, it's not that hard. Q. Kiana, is the basket looking as big as a hula hoop for you? KIANA WILLIAMS: I would agree, but my teammates do a great job of finding me the ball. We do a great job of moving the ball. So the shots that I get they're open, so I have to knock them down. Q. For both players, tonight, what was the key to this? You really took them out of their game, obviously, but what was the plan to take Courtney Ekmark out and Ibis, I assume, too. Talk to me a little bit about what the plan was going into this game against their offense? ALANNA SMITH: Well, you just have to know who does what. Who likes to do certain things. So when you know that you can take that away. We know Ekmark's a fantastic shooter, so we needed to stay close to her and make sure she didn't get any open threes. Ibis is a great post player, can shoot the ball great in the paint. So we knew we had to be aware of her. I think we did a really good job just a team, defensive effort, really aggressive. Q. Tara, it's been a fairly quiet tournament so far for Britt. Is there anything about that that concerns you? TARA VANDERVEER: I think she's had kind of a head cold, and I'm hoping that she'll feel better. But she's done -- I think just her being out there helps other people. She's a threat offensively. You know she rebounds, she runs the floor. She was working really hard defensively. Actually, she was one of the people that didn't get in foul trouble for us. One of the biggest things, we sent them to the free-throw line so much. But we have confidence in Brit. We know that she'll step up big for us tomorrow. It's hard. I mean, I think she gets other team's best defender. Mazyck is a great defender. She had Ryan guarding her tonight and they were very physical with her. So I think it will be a big challenge for her, but we have confidence in her and we know she'll come out with a big game tomorrow. Q. You got to rest most of your starters for most of the fourth quarter. How much do you think that helps you going into tomorrow for a third game in three days? TARA VANDERVEER: I think it's a big thing to do. It's not just resting them, but you're also not exposing them to getting hurt. But resting is great. When you're at the end of the season like this and we can get some really good minutes, 13 minutes, I have Alexa Romano playing the defense that she did and making the decisions she did. And again, Kaylee only playing 13 minutes, she got a lot of rest. We're not going to rest anybody tomorrow. We've got to bring it. So everybody has got to be ready to go. Q. When you played Oregon up there you won by 13. They didn't have Bando in that game. What will be the top challenges for your team in this game? TARA VANDERVEER: Well, I think Oregon gives you the ultimate challenge, and if they have a great outside game and great inside game. You know it's like Hebard making 33 straight shots? I don't think I could make 33 straight shots without defense. You know? She's terrific. Then you've got Bando shooting, you've got Ionescu, Cazorla. They're all terrific perimeter players, and whether it's Sabally or McGwire, their size is big. So I think that they're a legitimate Top 10 team, and we'll have to play very well to beat them again. Q. Are you guys looking forward to a match-up with Oregon? KIANA WILLIAMS: Yes, yes, we are. It's going to be a grind out game and a battle. But we're going to go back and watch film and get ready for tomorrow. TARA VANDERVEER: We're not watching tonight. It's too late. ALANNA SMITH: Yeah, bedtime. TARA VANDERVEER: Thank you all. We're very excited to play tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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