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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2019Lindsay GottliebKristine AnigweRecee CaldwellLas Vegas, Nevada Cal - 77, Washington State - 58 COACH GOTTLIEB: Credit to Washington State. It's kind of different playing a team twice in a row. We beat them pretty good at this their place, and they came out today to win the team. They're a very talented team particularly on the offensive end, with some scores that make coaches have fits. I thought they really challenged us. The score ended up being similar the last time we played them, but the field was really different. We were challenged. That will help us for the rest of the week here if we're able to stay a while. And excited to be able to do a game plan tonight for Stanford. Q. Lindsay, how tough is it when you play a team four days earlier? Obviously the scouting report, you think you know them, but knowing that you won handily and you have to play a team that's going to be hungry to try to keep their season alive? COACH GOTTLIEB: Yeah, it's a different kind of feel. If you're the higher seed and you're supposed to win kind of thing, any mitigating factors that are different usually help the team that wants something to be different. And especially when Kristine had such a monster game against them last time, you knew they were going to come with a different urgency around that. So it's a different kind of deal. But I do think our players were really focused in a quick turn around. We thought there were ways that we could be better last time against them defensively. Particularly our defense on Bobi, No. 45, Hristova, and I thought we did do a better job on her. They're so talented, Molina gets going a little bit. It's a little different feel. But our players were locked into the message we don't get to stay here unless we win this one. Q. Kristine, you set the All-time Cal blocks record tonight. Can you talk about what you saw on defense? It seemed defense really sped upcoming out of the first quarter for you especially? KRISTINE ANIGWE: Well, that record was there for 30 years, and I'm just really grateful to have broken a lot of these records. I couldn't have done it without like my coaches believing in me and my teammates being there. I think our defense speaks volumes, and the second half we really, really dialed in, and we weren't going to lose this game. It's March, and crazy things happen. So you really, really have to pay attention, and just stay focused. Q. Receé, you did a really good job tonight kind of controlling the offense. Nine assists, two turnovers. What did you see out there? RECEÉ CALDWELL: Stuff really opens up, I think, whenever our shooters are shooting the way that we've been shooting for a long time now. I mean, you can't really just guard Kristine one-on-one. I think every time someone guards Kristine one-on-one, it's an automatic in. (Indiscernible) obviously knows that. She had nine assists and zero turnovers with a great stat line, honestly, for any point guard. And Kianna and Kenzie and Jaelyn, we all know when to throw it in, and she also knows when to throw it back out. I think that's where we have a perfect balance of our beast that no one can guard one-on-one or even double teams. Then we have shooters that are shooting 35, 37% from three. So it's pretty easy to read the game when it's a one-on-one game. You know, it starts getting more hectic when there is a one on two. But every time it's a one on one, it's pretty easy to read. Q. Kristine, you had a relatively quiet first quarter, and took over the second quarter. Did you feel, okay, we're down a little bit. It's time for me to get going and get this team where we want to be? KRISTINE ANIGWE: Coming off a 30-30 game I was like they're going to put some people on me. I don't know if Receé found me. I think I wasn't wide open and she got me the ball. I think that's a really good point guard. When the Pac-12 came out with the awards, I was surprised I didn't see her name on it. Because when you have a point guard that can see you and get you wide open lay-ups, even when the coverage is so intense, I just never played with a point guard like that. Usually they're like nine assists and zero turnovers, that's crazy, you know. I'm really grateful to have her on our team this year. She saw me when I didn't even know I was open, so, yeah. Q. Coach, you talked a little bit about the feel being different from this game to last week. What coming into that second half enabled you to really gain the separation that you did late in this one? COACH GOTTLIEB: Our defense. I mean, no doubt about it. I really challenged them to lock in. We ended up switching a lot of screens. Again, we have a smart team, a veteran team now. But Kristine and our her defense ability gives us a lot of options that she can switch onto a guard like Molina. There are not a lot of bigs that can do that. And our guards being smart enough to play post players and their post players being finesse more than power. So just really challenging them to get multiple stops in a row. No question on our defensive end. We were fairly consistent scoring the ball across all four quarters, got a little hot at times. They did come in strong defensively on Kristine. We had to do some other things, knock down some shots, open the floor, and then we found our scoring rhythm. We had to get stops because you just don't want to be in a one- or two-possession game when you have someone like Hristova or Molina who could get hot. That would be scary. Q. Looking ahead to Stanford, you guys split the series with them this season, but it's been a while, and they finished the regular season strong as well. What do you see, Lindsay, looking at them that's different from then that you'll have to include in your prep for tomorrow? COACH GOTTLIEB: Well, I think any Tara VanDerveer-coached team continues to improve as the year goes on. That's credit to her and them. They run the Princeton offense, and they do it as well as anybody in the country. They cut extremely hard. They put multiple shooters on the floor. I know when we played them the first time, Dodson was just coming back from an injury and had a setback and now kind of in and out. But they can mix up the lineups and go bigger or go smaller, and they challenge you in different ways. But, you know, I expect them to have a great game plan. I expect them to run their stuff really well, and we have to be better. They're not going to be subpar. We're going to have to be great to get this thing done. But we'll hopefully get our players ready. It was nice to beat them, but we remember the sting of the second game at this point, I think. Q. What's it like having sort of a safety blanket in the middle that you can throw the ball to and it usually goes in the basket, Receé? How much easier does it make the offense go for you guys? RECEÉ CALDWELL: I mean, K makes the game easier for all of our players, honestly. For as much attention as she draws, it leaves us wide open a lot of the time. I think we've seen that in the progression of the season. The best big in the country, best player to me. I mean, she's the best player in the country in my opinion. No one consistently scores over triple-teams day-in and day-out and does it with composure and savviness, you know. So Kristine does what she does, and we all follow along. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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