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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2020

Las Vegas, Nevada

California - 71, Arizona State - 67

MODERATOR: All right. Welcome, everyone. We'll get started. Welcome to ASU, head coach Charli Turner Thorne, we have Reili Richardson, Robbi Ryan, Ja'Tavia Tapley. Coach, we'll have you open with remarks and we'll take questions.

CHARLI TURNER THORNE: I think the thing that comes to mind right now is when we lost the first game in the Pac-12 Tournament, we lost our starting point guard the last game of the regular season as well. You know, it is just a tough turnaround to get -- to figure things out and, you know, have people step up, take new roles.

The great news now this year is that we'll get Kiki back for NCAAs. It was a lot. Plus our other point guard had some issues health-wise and we didn't have her for most of the second half. Reili, credit her for not having any subs for most of the game.

And credit Cal, they're playing well right now. They did a great job. A very aggressive game. A lot of free throws. We can't give teams free throws and win. And we can't turn the ball over. I think not having Kiki out there, our starting point guard, and having our rotation, that hurt us in the press and just taking care of the ball and with execution.

KiKi does a lot of things for us. We talked about who's going to rebound for us, who's going to have our help sides. Even just the rotation so Reili and Robbi don't have to play so many minutes. That's not been our style all year long. That really hurt us.

MODERATOR: We'll take questions.

Q. What do you think happened this game that was different from when you played Cal last game that, you know, may have affected things, other than Kiki being out?
CHARLI TURNER THORNE: Well, as I mentioned, I mean, Kiki was a big difference in the other game, she had six rebounds, four steals and did a lot for us.

Honestly, it didn't matter who we played today, we didn't have it. We didn't play good basketball. I do credit Cal for sure. We just didn't play well.

And I think it was hard with our rotation. You know, we didn't -- we didn't foul them, or they didn't get called fouls, I don't know, whatever, they called a lot of fouls on us today, and they shot 30 free throws, so that was a difference.

We turned the ball over last time too, but we were able to play through it. I mean, them getting to the free-throw line was a difference in the game. We knew that we didn't want to do that.

Q. Charli, what was it about their press specifically that made it so tough on you guys?
CHARLI TURNER THORNE: We threw it sideways, we wanted to go from the middle and attack from there. I mean, I put my freshmen in there, you know, they just played a little sideways, you know, didn't step to the pass.

I mean, I thought it was mainly our young players, just weren't on page with what we wanted to do. Finally poor Reili, I didn't sub her out, we're picking off and Reili, you're dribbling through it and we were transitioned for the rest of the time after that.

I was trying to make Reili not have to work so hard, and we knew we could pass over the top and look down. We did the same thing the first game. We said we'll do this, and then we didn't do it.

You know, it is a young team. You know, I mean, Reili and Robbi are the only two players on our roster that have had any significant experience in a Sun Devil uniform going into this year. Tap has been an amazing addition, but everybody has learned something, it is the first year playing. Some of that showed up today although they have been in the uniform all season.

Q. Hey, Coach. Do you just throw this tape out knowing that you have at least one more game coming up in the NCAA Tournament and that you have a different -- you have your point guard back and things are different, or is it a learning tool of hey, we need to work on this, that, to get back --
CHARLI TURNER THORNE: Yeah, I mean, obviously it is fun to play somebody that's not familiar with you, a new opponent. This break is so needed for our team. I mean, we're really banged up, really tired. We have a lot of people that are going to, after the season is over, probably need knee surgeries and stuff like that.

This will be an incredible break for us just to get refreshed, but it is -- we need to work on things. You know, we haven't practiced a lot for probably a month and a half, just trying to get people through the season and not being fully healthy.

I love this window right now, you get great rest and some great practice time, and we usually do really well with it.

Q. This question is for the three of you. I know today stinks. I can see it in your faces, but the best part is, as Charli mentioned, you have at least one more game, potentially more. What are the three of you taking from this one moving forward into that NCAA Tournament?
REILI RICHARDSON: Getting back to practicing. Doing the little things. Like we do you want foul, we're a team that do you want foul, we play position defense without fouling. We usually don't turn over the ball as much. And I know we have been having trouble breaking the press recently, so we need to get back to just breaking the press in practice against our guys.

JA'TAVIA TAPLEY: For me, one thing that's important to me that I feel like I need to work on on this break is finishing stronger and using setup, more setups, not going away from my strengths and for the team. I feel like, like Robbi said, we just need to stick to the game plan and things that we know we need to do to win. And when Charli says not to do something, we need to stick with it and not do it.

We weren't disciplined enough this game on offense and defense. So we have to bring that together and keep communicating and getting better at that.

ROBBI RYAN: I mean, just what they said. Just like the little things, little things really caught up to us today. I guess just bring that sense of urgency for my team and making sure that underclassmen know what it is like to play in these big games.

Q. You're finishing your career, going to the NCAA Tournament. What's this entire season been like? You have been such a key to the success of ASU in your senior season.
JA'TAVIA TAPLEY: It is really exciting to know I have a group of seniors around me that want to play as hard as I want to, wants to win as much as I do. They trust me with me coming into this program and just -- you know, being new, and they put their trust in me. It causes me to play as hard as I can for them and my coach.

Coach trusts me. It's been fun. Even though, you know, it has been a couple of ups and downs, I just made sure I can be the best leader I can be on and off the court. Yeah. I'm glad we get another chance to play. We just got to take it.

Q. Robbi, this is for you. Your coach already mentioned it, you're one of the leaders on this team, you have been one of the leaders on the team the last four seasons. What's going through your mind now that your team just ended up losing in the first round and you have NCAA to look forward to one last time?
ROBBI RYAN: I mean, I'm obviously upset about the game. Now that it is over, I mean, we can't hang our heads too much about it because we have to look forward and work on the things we need to work on to go into the tournament strong and ready.

Q. Coach, Eboni Walker had nine rebounds today, had a big kick-out there that gave you a look to either tie the game or take the lead, but what kind of impact did she have on the game today?
CHARLI TURNER THORNE: A big one. If I had to look for somebody that I thought probably played at least close to their aptitude, I mean, it would probably be Eboni. Everybody else would be like: I needed to play better, I shoulda, woulda, coulda.

As a freshman, she's playing her best basketball down the stretch for us, she's fearless. A phenomenal rebounder and makes plays for us. She did a great job.

Q. Whenever something is put on tape that you guys seem to struggle with, Reili just mentioned it about trying to break a press, teams will look for that in the NCAA Tournament, was it something about Cal's personnel that you struggled with today, or was it in general where you have to focus on certain things in practice about trying to break the press because it's likely teams will come at you with that time and time again?
CHARLI TURNER THORNE: We live for people to press us, it fuels our transition. We just didn't do what we were supposed to do. When we did it, we broke it. When we caught it in pass sideways, which we were not supposed to do, then the person that caught it sideways wasn't supposed to have the ball, and then they didn't know what to do with it. And about three, four times, it ended up in a turnover. And then I had to put a kid at the point guard that's not played point guard for a month and a half.

I'm not worried about that in the NCAA Tournament. That won't be the case.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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