PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 5, 2021

Tara VanDerveer

Stanford Cardinal

Postgame Press Conference

Stanford - 79, Oregon State - 45

COACH VANDERVEER: First of all, really proud of our team for stepping up. Oregon State has a great team. They've won every game since they played us back in early February. They are an extremely disciplined, they shoot the ball extremely well. They're definitely an NCAA team.

And so we're playing, we're playing tournament games right now. And they were a big challenge for us.

I thought especially we had a lot of different people step up. Cameron Brink really stepped up big. I think -- she had a double-double. Her play was outstanding, scoring, rebounding, running the floor.

And I thought Kiana really stayed with things really well. We didn't shoot the ball extremely well. Hannah jump got some good baskets for us. She hit some nice outside shots.

We got some, I thought some really gritty plays from the twins. Anna Wilson, her defense is always great. She's really a steady player for us out there.

We'll need a lot of different people stepping up. I thought Fran and Ashten came in and gave us some good minutes. Haley struggled today but she'll be back for us on Sunday. We have confidence she has a great game coming.

But overall just people stayed with things and they were excited for each other and it's a great win. We're very excited to be in the championship game.

Q. You touched on Cameron, but could you expand a little bit, her ability as a freshman with confidence, Oregon State is tied after one with you. They came out hit a three, up 16-13, and then it turned into the Cameron Brink show, not just scoring but between (indiscernible) and the blocked shots. Can you talk about why she's capable of taking things over in the postseason for you?

COACH VANDERVEER: Cam really has never played, quote, like a freshman. First of all, she has great hands. She really understands the game. She listens. She's been working on counter moves, which she did today, which was really exciting to see. So she's not just doing her thing and getting frustrated when someone takes that away.

She's got something else. Her outside shot, her 3 -- I thought in the beginning just be a little more patient but I liked how aggressive she was. She brings great emotion. What wasn't to like? It was very exciting to see her step up on the big stage and play so well.

Q. Tremendous performance by Cameron Brink, and Kiana Williams had a great game. You guys only had five turnovers, 15 assists. How much do you love that 3-to-1 ratio like that?

COACH VANDERVEER: That's awesome, not to turn the ball over. We weren't shooting the ball exceptionally well. You've got to count on your rebounding; we outrebounded them. You've got to count on your defense. Again, the defensive tone was set by Anna, Lacie up top guarding. Goodman is really a terrific player, and I'm looking to see what she ended up with, which was 12 points, which is what she got in our first game too? No else in double figures.

Our defense really set the tone for the win, and to hold the team that that's good to 45 points is really saying something.

Q. The last month or so you've really been locked in, it seems, defensively. Is it that you finally get to go home and sort of get used to being -- practicing in normal places as opposed to being on the road for a month? Not that you were playing poor defense before that, but the last month you've been playing really good on that end of the court.

COACH VANDERVEER: It's every day, playing against great teams. When you play in our conference you have to play defense. Someone like Aleah Goodman is 50% 3-point shooter. Yesterday with Jordan Sanders, a 50-percent 3-point shooter. You've got to guard people in this league.

I think our team, I'd say Anna, Lacie and Lexie, especially Anna and Lacie are the ones that start on the ball. Kiana works hard defensively. Everyone on our team is working hard defensively. I know we need them to do that for our team to be successful.

Q. We've talked several times about the work that Hannah Jump put in this offseason. Could you evaluate for us where her defense is right now versus last year?

COACH VANDERVEER: Hannah Jump might be the hardest worker on our team. She is in the gym every day working on her shot. She changed her body over the pandemic in terms of -- in a positive way. She got in great shape. She works out every day. She's someone that last year really struggled guarding people.

This year she can guard people, plus she has the endurance to play the whole game. On the plus/minus, Hannah had the best plus/minus on our team. She is giving us great minutes and really making big plays.

Q. You mentioned not the best shooting night, I think by percentage it's the worst of the season, but how important is it for you to rely on defense and your rebounding and it never really felt like the game was in question?

COACH VANDERVEER: When it's tied after the first quarter, the game is in question, we had to lock in -- and I just want to credit the teams that we play, whether it's Oregon State, Oregon, obviously we didn't do a good enough job defensively one time when we played Colorado or UCLA.

But for the most part our team has really bought into we're going to work hard on the defensive end of the floor to create offense. And I think we are running on them. And when you tire people out you can take their legs away and they don't shoot the ball as well. So, our running and defense contribute to our success.