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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2020Tara VanDerveerKiana WilliamsLacie HullLas Vegas, Nevada Stanford - 68, Oregon State - 57 TARA VANDERVEER: First I would like to just say that this is a great win for our team. Oregon State is a terrific team. They battled for 40 minutes. They have grit players, and Scott does an outstanding job with his team. They're an extremely well-coached team. I thought we came out of the gate fast. Lacie got us going with her three-point shooting, to be a double-digit scorer for us. We count on her defense, and she worked very hard defensively against excellent players. And Kiana, this is how she's playing, she's a March basketball player. She kind of starts out, gets everybody involved, and then when it's time, she asserts herself really well. I thought that Maya Dodson had a really big game for us, running the floor hard, she was having 5-for-5 at halftime. Ended up having an excellent game for us and just getting back. This is, like her seventh game back, and she's doing really, really well. Q. Coach, you swept this team in the regular season, but both wins by three points. How important, you touched a minute ago on, was it to come out fast and sort of establish that dominance from the start? TARA VANDERVEER: I thought it was really important. I think at the end I thought our team was trying to make it a three-point game again. I was like: Wait a minute. Hey. We don't have do that. You know, again, they're a type of team that -- in this league, it prepares you for this type of game. You know, basketball is a game of runs. And we came out, and, again, Lacie I thought, key, but really got us out going. Knocking down some big threes for us. We got the big lead. We need to really continue to sustain those leads. Q. Kiana, can you talk about how you feel about how you have been playing over these past few weeks? It seems you're starting to put your foot on the gas. KIANA WILLIAMS: I don't think anything has really changed beside me making shots. I think early on in the season I wasn't shooting the ball well. My teammates, they have confidence in me. My coaches have confidence in me. I have to find that confidence within myself, and we're just playing hard for each other. You know, March is all about winning. You have to up your play a little bit. The stakes go up. It is win or go home. Yeah. Just we're playing hard for each other, playing hard for our seniors and taking it one game at a time. Q. Kiana, you guys did a great job defending Slocum. She had hurt you the first two games, even though you had won. And you obviously played awesome. I wonder if Tara, anyone else, issued a challenge to you to be the best guard on the floor tonight, to that teammate? KIANA WILLIAMS: Tara does challenge me with that aspect. I take it upon myself best to be the best guard on the court. Credit to Lacie and Anna. I didn't really guard Slocum that much. She's a great player. Lacie and Anna, they did a terrific job taking away what she likes to do, making it tough for her our. Our bigs did a great job when they had to switch on her. It was a team effort. Q. Tara, looking at last night for Oregon State, they're three-point shooting is what put them ahead against WSU, tonight you guys held them at bay, especially Tudor and Goodman, especially in that first half. Was that just length and good match-ups, closing out? What do you attribute to how well you defended those two especially from three? TARA VANDERVEER: What we try to do as a staff, and Tempie Brown was -- scouted the team, and Tempie is an extremely knowledgeable basketball coach, we just try to really identify what teams' strengths are and try to take away their strengths, not allow them -- like, you know, I don't -- my mother is 92, and she said: Guard Tudor. I mean, like, come on. Really? You know, you just have to know that you can't leave a great shooter like Goodman, Tudor, Slocum open. And it is obviously a lot easier said than done. I mean, Kiana worked hard to get through screens. Anna Wilson, Lexie and Lacie. And they still got good looks. But the focus is take away the three-point shooting because they're so efficient. Obviously that's not their only -- the only part of their game. If you're coming out on them, they're attacking the basket. And, I mean, they're just -- they're a very talented team, and I'm proud that our team stepped up and got the job done. Q. Tara, this is not a fun question, but Coronavirus panic is sweeping the nation. Earlier this week Stanford announced they were going to limit 150 spectators to each Stanford athletic event. Late tonight they announced they would cancel in-person classes on Monday. How do you anticipate that affecting the first and second rounds of the tournament? You think you're still going to be able to host? Are you ready to play in front of no people? TARA VANDERVEER: I guess, first of all, you know, we have to really appreciate every single day that we are healthy and enjoy -- that's what I tell our team, just play as hard as you can. You know, I think the Pac-12 has been working really hard to sanitize everything. You know, we're washing our hands, you know, I mean, as much as we can and everything. It's hard when we see like our friends, we are all hugging, we're trying not to, but that's just I guess -- we may have to change some of that behavior. As far as Stanford, we have terrific leadership at Stanford, and we all have confidence in the leadership at Stanford, and we're going with their -- we know that our best interest is why they're making these decisions. So we're just going to wait and see what happens, and hopefully none of our team or none of our staff gets sick. Q. Tara, I know you take it one game at a time. I imagine it is probably hard not to see those two teams, especially Oregon on the other side of the bracket. Does it feel a little bit like last year in the sense where you know you came off a big loss to them and then turned it around and came into the tournament and ended up winning that championship game? Was there added motivation from the last time you met, or does it feel at all like last year? TARA VANDERVEER: I'm really excited that this is this year's team, and I'm excited that we're playing in the semifinal game. You know, we didn't play as well as we needed to against UCLA. I'm all about blue. You know, we have to focus on doing what we have to do to be successful and to sit up here tomorrow night and be excited about playing whatever team comes out of the other side of the bracket. I don't look ahead. I don't watch video ahead. I just -- I'm very focused on UCLA and us playing as well as we can tomorrow night. I hope our team is too. Q. Congratulations on the win. On Sunday we get to celebrate International Women's Day. I was wondering if each of you could share someone, a woman that's impacted your life in a meaningful way. It doesn't have to relate to hoops, just whomever has touched you. KIANA WILLIAMS: I'll start off with my mom. My mom is here. The love she has for me is unconditional. The love I have for her is unconditional. My mom, my grandma, my aunts, my nieces, you know. Tara does a great job of trying to support women in sports, and it shows with the coaching staff. And we have a really huge family environment. Just off the top of my head, I'll say my mom. LACIE HULL: I'll piggyback off of that. I would also say my mom. She's taught me so much growing up. I'm so thankful for everything she has done for me and taught me. Also, I mean, we're surrounded by such amazing women that have impacted me in so many ways, from our coaching staff to, I mean, all my professors and grandma, Nana. I feel really blessed to be surrounded by such amazing women that teach me so much and impact my life on a day-to-day basis. TARA VANDERVEER: I have to say my mom too. She's here, you know, she's 92 1/2 and cheering and everything and just -- also I'm inspired by the women I coach, and just, you know, I learn things from Kiana and Lacie on our team. So it's great to be celebrating, you know -- is it worldwide? Women's International? That's awesome. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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