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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2020

Las Vegas, Nevada

Oregon State - 82, Washington State - 55

KAMIE ETHRIDGE: Well, I would just, you know, obviously say congratulations to Oregon State. What a great performance by their entire team.

I thought Scott just had them right on point, and any time a team puts up 52 or -3 points in a half on you, you know you're going to have problems.

We just didn't have an answer for their ability to make every shot that they kind of made, and what they did miss, the nine or so, 15 or so in the first half, they got most of those offensive rebounds. It.

Was -- we had a bad about 15-minute spurt there where they just ran away from us. And, you know, we couldn't keep up in the scoring column.

Really proud of these two players and what they have meant for our program, and, you know, it is always a really hard time to end the season with a loss.

Q. Coach, can you expand on what it meant to the program?
KAMIE ETHRIDGE: I don't know if I have the time. These two players, I mean, obviously we have been really fortunate to be able to coach them the last two years. It starts with that. They were two of the best players in the league for two years.

When there is a coaching change at that point, I think five players either graduated or transferred out during the coaching change, and these two guys stuck it out when they probably had other places they could have gone. Even this past summer Bobi could have turned pro and left and wanted to be a part of this program and see it through.

It says a lot about those guys as competitors, as teammates, and as Cougs. They love it. They're invested. They have given their heart and soul.

So, you know, I'm really sad for them. And they're also unbelievably awesome players in the sense that their names are in the record books. They have done so much that there's some records that I think anyone will touch, maybe some of Bobbi's, and just the versatility of Nelle as a point guard and what she's done.

It says a lot about them and their legacy they left behind as basketball players. What's most impressive about them is their loyalty and who they are as people and who they are as teammates and how much they have given to Washington State. It's -- you know, that's the saddest part that we won't have that anymore.

Q. For Bobi on Chanelle, to see what she did last season and the way she leveled up her game, and then to do it again this year, what's your perspective been seeing her get better in a way? How is your relationship? You've helped each other, pushing each other to get better over the years?
BORISLAVA HRISTOVA: Whatever I say, I say won't be enough, you know, but I have seen Chanelle go through adversity, and I'm just really proud of how, you know, she handled it, and just this helped her grow as a player and as a person.

You know, she is showing, you know, she's shown big strides last year, and even she's got even better this year. You know, having her on the court, it is just another weapon that the teams have to deal with.

You know, she does everything for us. You know, I'm just -- she has a really bright future in the pro basketball, so I'm really excited to see where that takes her, and it is just a pleasure to play with her for, you know, four years. And, yeah, thank you, Nelle.

Q. We should start first by asking Chanelle the same question about Bobi and then we'll move on. It has been such a joy to watch you two play together. What's it like to play with Bobi for the last four years?
CHANELLE MOLINA: Bobi has been unbelievable. I mean, I don't have to worry about when we step on the floor, because she just does her job. She gets buckets. She is just a fierce competitor, always in the gym, first shooting, getting shots up.

And you can see it in her eyes, she just -- everything she does, she just does it with such a work ethic that I wish I have that too, but I mean -- in your eyes, it is like -- you're so fierce, and I love it.

You know, I respect it. I respect you as a player, respect you as a person, and I wouldn't want to be playing with anybody else besides you. Love you. I wish I had more time with you. More time with our coaches, because I respect our coaches too. I love them. I just -- I know that the program is in good hands with them.

Q. It hasn't been easy, the four years or five that you both have spent in Pullman, but it has been something for us to watch, as Kamie mentioned, you stayed, which we see so few student-athletes do these days. What's it meant to you to be a Coug now that you're hanging up the jersey for the final time?
BORISLAVA HRISTOVA: I think living was the easiest decision we could have made, and I think both of us, you know, wanted to help this program grow. It's, you know, no matter the outcomes, I don't regret my decision. I'm sure she doesn't regret decision.

We have been -- we have been trying to help this team grow and become -- you know, its going to take time. This team is going to be good, and I hope we did something for them to set a foundation.

And I'm just so thankful for all the support we got. You know, so I'm excited and looking forward to see how this coaching staff and these players, where they'll take this program.

CHANELLE MOLINA: I just -- like she said, I hope we laid the foundation for all of the returners coming back. I have my two sisters here, of course I have to come back and visit -- no, I'm just kidding. No, I'm for sure going -- I told Coach after I leave, after we go play pro, hopefully, that I just -- I want to keep in touch with everyone, because like I said, they impacted my life so much, both on and off the court.

They just always gave me that drive and just that -- I always wanted to be better for not just myself but for everyone else, because I love them so much and I feel that each and every day at practice, you know, office hours, everything, and, you know -- yeah, just -- yeah.

I hope me and Bobi laid the foundation for our teammates to keep striving, working hard, keep doing good for this program.

Q. I'm wondering if both of you can share one of your favorite memories in the last four, five years? It doesn't have to be a game, it can just be whatever stands out to you, if you want to share that?
BORISLAVA HRISTOVA: Well, honestly I think being able to spend time -- You know, there's lots of memories we have made, I can't come to one particular one. It is just being together all the time, you know, traveling, you know, practicing together, getting together.

We always do a gathering when we cook food, and we always have fun times. In the summer we try to do some little trips. It is just the memories we have made on and off the court.

CHANELLE MOLINA: They told me the other day when they asked me and Bobi to dance and Bobi went up and did her little shoulder dance thing, and that always gets me. I couldn't stop laughing because I love it when Bobi dances, it just makes me -- it just makes me smile. Show them.

BORISLAVA HRISTOVA: No. No.

CHANELLE MOLINA: No. Yeah. That's my memory. Any time Bobi dances, I'll always remember that.

Q. Kamie, it can be so easy to make noise of the idea that you have these two great players and the pressure that everybody else must feel to do whatever the team needs to progress, to win games. You know, one, what did you see Bobi and Chanelle do every day so that never happened to your team, and generally what did you see the players absorb from Chanelle and Bobi?
KAMIE ETHRIDGE: They'll probably realize what they're missing when they walk out the door. Because one thing, again, that I think I can respect more than anything as a basketball player and as a competitor is these guys never missed practice, they never miss games.

And then all of a sudden I said that a couple of days, and then she tweaks her knee. They just -- they play through sickness, they obviously play a million minutes and they come in the next day and they're the first ones there.

And, you know, they're just unbelievably committed to doing the work that it takes to be great. I don't think other players that don't have that in them realize how big that is until that's not around them anymore. So that's what really good players are.

And I think these guys had, you know, put a lot of people on their shoulders and tried to carry us through in a period where we didn't help them much. We don't have enough weapons around them to probably really let their game shine to the levels that it should.

You know, they shouldn't have to carry the load every single night in so many capacities. I think at times we have done them a disservice at times because they haven't been able to -- again, I think they have great careers ahead of them when they don't have to be the only players on the court that have to do all phases of the game.

But, you know, at the same time, you know, we -- I think toughness takes time to grow. I think, you know, the right work ethic takes time to grow. And I think competitiveness, you know, if you don't have it, you have to grow it.

And I think that's kind of where we are in our program, and we have to recruit a high-level player to replace these kind of players. We have to just -- the players in the gym right now, they have to take it upon themselves to really improve their game.

So they have had the example around them every day for four, five years. And we probably have all taken it for granted, but at the same time, you know, we can all really appreciate and respect and admire what these guys have done.

And Bobi I know is sitting here going: Well, why did you yell at me all the time?

Wait until next year when I'm not there to yell at -- I'll be mad about that. Why don't we have Bobi now? Again, I just think they have been great examples and representatives of our program and our university and ultimately our program, being Coug.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2020

Kamie Ethridge

Chanelle Molina

Borislava Hristova