PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 3, 2023

Tara VanDerveer

Haley Jones

Agnes Emma-Nnopu

Stanford Cardinal

Postgame Press Conference

UCLA - 69, Stanford - 65

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Stanford. Coach, we'll start with an opening statement and then we'll take some questions.

TARA VANDERVEER: We really just didn't do what we needed to do in the second half. I thought we had a really good first half. But compliment UCLA. They stepped up big. They were aggressive. They got on the boards. We had opportunities down the stretch and just didn't come up with the ball. Gave up too many threes and sent them to the free-throw line too much.

I thought we had a lot of different people help us. Agnes had, I thought Agnes played really well, helped us a lot. She's aggressive. She hit some big shots for us. Haley had, I thought Haley was carrying us a lot of the game. Talana did some really nice things for us. Cam inside in the first half did a great job. Fran had some big plays for us.

But just overall we just, we lost our momentum going into the second half and it was very disappointing.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions?

Q. Haley, first three quarters I think they shot 12 or 13 for 45. In the fourth quarter -- was it something that they did as Tara said in terms of being aggressive or was there a breakdown on the defensive end?

HALEY JONES: I think I would say it's a mix of both. UCLA is a great team, so credit to them. Great players, great coach. We knew they were going to come out big in the second half and I just don't think that we matched their energy in the second half is what it came down to in my point of view.

We had defensive breakdowns, we missed shots, they missed shots, they made some, we made some. I think it was really just they played more aggressive than we did and they jumped on us and I don't think we ever really bounced back from that. We were outscored in both quarters in that second half, which is disappointing.

So, yeah, I think that there's a lot to grow from. By no means are we hanging our heads after this game. UCLA played a great game. Hat's off to them. For us I think we have to get back at it this week at practice, watch the film, which is going to be tough, and prepare for the NCAA tournament.

Yeah, the second half I think they were just more aggressive and we just weren't making adjustments defensively.

Q. Hannah went scoreless and she looked like she had a really hard time getting open. When she isn't able to spread that defense out for you how much harder does it make it? And Hannah, in the second half they played pretty good defense on her, but it looked like she was having a hard time scoring.

TARA VANDERVEER: I think Agnes came in and hit some big shots for us. We have to do a better job of getting Hannah open. We have to screen better, we have to play at a better pace, figure out how we can get her shots because she's a great shooter. She did have some good looks early. I think that that was, when they didn't go down early for her, then maybe she just got a little discouraged.

As far as Cam goes, I think Cam really wanted the ball in there and sometimes maybe she was a little off balance. But I think she was working as hard as she could to score. We're going to keep going to her.

Q. What are you going to take away from this tournament as a whole heading into the NCAA tournament?

TARA VANDERVEER: I think this has been a really challenging last five weeks for our team. I think that having, for us to be on the road four out of the last five weekends, to play Mondays and Thursdays, and the way we've had it, I think what our team can benefit most from is some rest. I think that once we get rested, we'll go home, take three days off, at least, and let people just get refreshed.

Then we expect to be in the NCAA tournament. We expect to play, have a home, opportunity to play at home, hopefully two games. We have to fix some things, there's no doubt. But this is, again this is an incredibly competitive conference and UCLA is an NCAA team. I think Oregon is also, as is Colorado and Washington State are. So we're prepared for the NCAA based on what we've done this past season in the PAC 12.

Q. The difficulty of this conference, in what ways, are there any specific ways this prepares you for the NCAA tournament?

AGNES EMMA-NNOPU: I think, like Tara was saying, like the competitiveness, teams like UCLA, Oregon, Utah, they're all NCAA teams and going against them every week is like practice in regards to heading to the tournament. So, yeah, we didn't get the nets that we wanted here, but there's still nets to cut down in the NCAA tournament.

HALEY JONES: Yeah, what Agnes said. PAC 12 is the toughest conference in the country and we're proud to have won the regular season. We didn't get the tournament, which is a tough pill to swallow. But like Agnes said, it just prepares us for what's next. Our season doesn't end here. I think that we want to continue to play together as a unit. This is a special team and I don't think that we're anywhere close to our ceiling. So I think that if we're able to get things together in these next few weeks, continue to play together, make adjustments, this and that, whatever it may be, then I think that we have a lot of good stuff ahead of us throughout the rest of March and beginning of April.

Q. Kiki Rice is a freshman. She's obviously got a lot of growing to do. But from an opponent coaching standpoint just what kind of difficulty is she already kind of causing other teams in the PAC 12?

TARA VANDERVEER: Well, Kiki had a great game. She hit her shot. She did a great job at the free-throw line. They have some young players. She had a great game. Congratulations to her and her team.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.