PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 8, 2024

Tara VanDerveer

Brooke Demetre

Cameron Brink

Hannah Jump

Stanford Cardinal

Postgame Press Conference

Stanford - 66, Oregon State - 57

TARA VANDERVEER: I'm really excited to be sitting up here with our team -- part of our team.

The first thing I'd like to say is that Oregon State is a great team. Not only do they play extremely well, but they're really classy. And we really will be cheering for them in the NCAA Tournament.

The second thing I'd like to say is I hope that being down at halftime is not a habit of on our team. But I'm really excited. I think that this can be a game that can really help us a lot, being down and being able to battle back.

We have not had to really do this -- we have not done this all year. We haven't been down a lot, but we haven't had to battle out of a big hole.

I was really impressed with the leadership that Cam showed and Brooke and Talana and Hannah Jump. Hannah had a great game. Brooke had a great game. Cam was out there battling the whole game. Played really well for us.

Kiki stepped up. Everyone contributed. We didn't have anyone not do something that helped us win the game. And I'm really proud of our team.

Q. Cam, having not had to battle out of a big hole and being down 16 early in the second quarter, what was the vibe? What was the confidence level that you guys were going to get yourself out of this?

CAMERON BRINK: I think we always just try to make it a point to be really positive. We were in the locker room, and we kind of have this joke, Bird, Erica McCall, used to play at Stanford, great player. I forget what game it was.

TARA VANDERVEER: Notre Dame.

CAMERON BRINK: Notre Dame, and at halftime they were down by 17 and she was, like, we've got them right where we want them. We just say that whenever we are down -- we've got them right where we want them.

It's about being positive. I'm really proud of Hannah. She came out and showed some real grit. And Brooke, she's 2-for-2 from 3, which is crazy. So we just tried to be really positive.

Q. What did you like the most about how Hannah and Brooke were able to help you tonight?

TARA VANDERVEER: I really just liked their body language, how they played with a lot of confidence. And Hannah, just coming off with a lot of speed, looking for her shot, knocking her shot down.

But her defense, I don't remember Hannah coming out of the game. Oh, yeah, sure enough, 40 minutes. She guards people. She gets the ball inside. It was the body language, just the grit that people showed.

Cam, one assist off a double-double. Really stepped up -- triple-double, sorry. Triple-double. Thank you.

And just I mean, Brooke coming in. I'm hard on Brooke. She takes it. And I think she kind of leads the way with just being -- rededicating herself and the resiliency she shows, and obviously knocking down big shots, having great passes.

So we had to battle, and that's good for us. And I'm really proud of how we battled and did what we needed to do.

Q. Cameron, you've had the chance to play in a lot of Pac-12 Tournament games, some good, some bad. What's it been like to play in an event where anybody can win night in, night out?

CAMERON BRINK: I think it's really fun to see all the fans come out and just seeing different colors in the stands is really fun. But I think we're all savoring this. It's the last one ever. So, yeah, I think it's really bittersweet, but it's been really fun so far.

Q. We talked yesterday with Kiki about, when both of you were younger, you had to play against each other all the time in practice and how that made her so much better. She didn't come in here tonight, but she's one rebound off a double-double. How has she made you better also? Like, maybe not you don't probably play one-on-one in practice but when you were younger.

CAMERON BRINK: We honestly still -- every day we're shooting with each other. We're doing box-out drills. I think iron sharpens iron. So I think I'm just really proud of her.

She's always been such a smart -- she has such a high basketball IQ. I couldn't say enough great things about her. But I think I'm just really thankful for her for kind of holding me down because I can get fiery and kind of get out of my wits.

She'll tell me, like, calm down, we've got this. She's kind of my backbone sometimes, I'm grateful for her and her growth. I think mentally this year, I think she's always been a phenomenal athlete and player, but mentally she's really confident, and I'm proud of her.

Q. Brooke, there was those consecutive 3-pointers you had there in the third quarter. Did you feel a momentum shift off of those? And what did that moment mean for you to be able to contribute in that way?

BROOKE DEMETRE: I mean, my thing is just always being ready and getting my shot within the offense. And we needed shots at that point. And definitely after I shot them, I felt a momentum shift. Everybody on the team was super happy for me. It was, like, all right, let's go. We're in this thing. It's exciting, but just doing what I need to do for the team.

Q. Hannah, I thought that I saw a moment where you looked at Kiki or at one of the teammates and tapped your chest and said "find me." You hit a 3 in transition. It felt like, for me, that moment for you where you wanted to take some of this load on. Did I see that right?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah. Coming into this game after the last one, I think for me it was just focusing on other things and letting the game come to me. And today I felt it.

So, yeah, I told Kiki find me. I felt it. Yeah, I told Kiki, find me. I was feeling it.

And she's a great teammate. She gets me open. Both her and Cam, they take so much of the presence inside that it helps me find my shot outside.

But I think my teammates and my coaches instill a tough of confidence in me especially after the last game, just reminding me what else I bring to the court other than my shot. And just playing with confidence and playing loose.

Q. Coach and Brink, if you will, they start off the first quarter 61 percent shooting and the rest of the way they go 21 percent. For you guys, on the defensive side of the ball, what did you feel shifted that caused them to slow down on that side?

TARA VANDERVEER: I think one of the things we were trying to do was really pick up the pace. Always get the outlet high and push the tempo. I think in the beginning of the game, they're fresh, and then maybe as the game goes on it affects your -- if you are playing faster than maybe you're used to or you have to go through screens a lot, then you get tired.

I think that fatigue was a little bit. Plus, you're going back-to-back games which, honestly, we're not used to playing. So I think this was really key. They played quite a few people, but we had 10 people contribute and I think that was a real key for us.

CAMERON BRINK: I'll add to that. I think our coach Tempie Brown did a great job on scout. I think they're such a high execution team, knowing their key players, what they want to go into is really key for us.

I'm really proud of Talana on her ball-screen defense. And Kiki did a great job on Beers. And I kind of helped and doubled sometimes. And Brooke did a great job on Timea. They're a really great team, though.

Q. How similar did halftime today feel compared to halftime yesterday? Was the message the same or was there confidence knowing that you came back from a hole yesterday that you could do it again? Did it feel like déjà vu?

HANNAH JUMP: I think last game it definitely gave us confidence we can come back from anything. Honestly I don't think half os us knew we were down 16 at one point. We were just continuing to play.

At halftime Tara was, like, continue playing Stanford basketball. If we're getting good looks they're going to fall. That's what we did going in the second half.

I think games like this give us confidence. It shows us how resilient we are as a team and how if we really want it we're going to work for it be, and (indiscernible) successful in that second half.

Q. Cameron, you and Raegan didn't play against each other in the regular season. Could you talk about how that went, particularly kind of how it shifted around from the early part of the game until later? And then, Tara, this is the last night of Pac-12 Network coverage because the next game's on national. Can you just talk a little bit about what they've done to sort of help elevate women's basketball for the league?

CAMERON BRINK: I think Kiki did a great job against Beers this time. But this time we knew going into it that she would be a challenge.

I can't say enough nice things about her. She's a great person and a great player and she's only a sophomore. I think she's going to have a really great career ahead of her. But, yeah, she's really strong and it definitely was a hard match-up for me. Just thankful for my teammates' help down the stretch.

TARA VANDERVEER: I think the Pac-12 Network has been a real reason that West Coast basketball is seen and respected. The number of teams that are ranked in the top 10, top 20 is because people are able to see our teams play. I think the Pac-12 Network has been a big part of that.

For me it's really sad that this, coming up right now, will be the last Pac-12 broadcast. And just thank everyone, all the announcers, the directors, producers, camera people for a great job.

Q. Cam, feeding off of the question to Hannah when she was calling for the ball, when you guys are down, you ladies are down, you or Kiki, the complement of a supporting cast, do you feed off the energy when your supporting cast takes the lead role and you're the complement to their play like Hannah was tonight? Does that energize you a little bit more to see them take over?

CAMERON BRINK: No, 100 percent, I get so excited. These are some of my best friends. Seeing them play well just gets me going. Hannah, we could have found Hannah a lot more against Cal.

So I'm, like, we can get into the ball screen more. I told her, I was, like, look for your pull-up. And, Brooke, look for your pull-up. It's automatic. Happy for them.

And I love passing the ball. It's something I've really worked on this year. It was a good game.

Q. Brooke, we were watching -- we couldn't hear because there's no sound -- but we were watching on you on the postgame, on the network. You guys looked really, really excited about this game. Like, it felt like a really joyful win for you guys. Am I reading that right?

BROOKE DEMETRE: Definitely. We were super excited. I think also coming back from being behind, just gives a lot of momentum. But super excited. Oregon State is a great team, a great match-up. We're going to the championship so we were really happy with this one, yeah.

Q. Tara, you've been amazing in this conference. What you've done for this conference has been amazing. How do you feel about this being the end of the conference?

TARA VANDERVEER: Well, I think that I kind of have to compartmentalize a little bit. I'm really enjoying this team and being here and the great conference and the fans and all of you being here.

And I'm absolutely heartbroken about what has happened to our great conference, especially where we've come from nowhere to where we are with women's basketball. And I can only hope that going forward we'll figure something out that really -- we come back to play with Oregon State and Oregon and all the teams that are kind of sister schools on the West Coast.

Q. Chloe had a steal in the inbound in the fourth quarter there. She's had a few of those moments this year. What kind of dynamic does she bring to the defense, kind of in a limited role here?

TARA VANDERVEER: Well, I think she's doing really, really well. And to have her out there in key times just shows my confidence in her. Honestly, that's kind of her game. She does that kind of stuff. She comes up with the ball. She makes big plays like that.

I think that what she has -- a lot of high school players, they get into college and they are used to shooting all the time in high school. She's learned to pass inside, and she's really matured, and I think she does play great defense. So I would expect her to be playing more and more.

Q. I assume that after this you're going to walk out and probably watch this next game. How badly do you want another shot at USC?

TARA VANDERVEER: We're going to play whoever is in the championship, and we'll be excited about whoever we're playing. And they're both great teams. We've played each one of them once, and I think in some ways that's good because playing a team a third time is very challenging. So we played Cal three times. We played Oregon State. And we'll be excited to play either opponent.

Q. If Tara wasn't in here, would the answer be different?

CAMERON BRINK: Honestly, no, I think both teams are great, and we look forward to great competition. I feel like that's a diplomatic answer. But it's honestly true. They're both great teams and they both have really good players.

I feel like everything -- it's funny, too, fans think we don't get along. But we have fans on every single team and it's great, I think we're all sad this is the last go-around, just honestly rooting everyone on, not as much as I'm rooting us on.

Q. Going off what Cam mentioned about wanting to get Brooke and get Hannah going in this game, just when they're on, what kind of depth and dimension does that add to your offense?

TARA VANDERVEER: I think it's kind of -- it becomes a pick your poison. You've got Cam inside. You've got Kiki inside and you've got Brooke. And Helena shot really well, helped us making four 3s and understanding what our game is. And we're led by Cam and Kiki, and Brooke knows that.

But if they're giving her a spot, then Hannah is going to knock it down and Brooke's going to knock it down. And I think other people can do the same thing. Talana has made big 3s for us spreading the floor.

Q. Cam, what does it mean for you to be a senior leader of this team to help this team get to another Pac-12 Championship, the last one for the tournament, and to be to do it with a little bit of a different group too?

CAMERON BRINK: I think, honestly, the team makes it real easy. And our captains are Kiki, Hannah and I, but Brooke has taken on such a leadership role this year, and Talana. So I think we all just really get along. We all really love each other. They make it easy. We look forward to playing with each other and just want to play with them for as many games as possible.

Q. Tara, all of you have complimented Oregon State -- and maybe you're just being diplomatic, like Cam said -- but how good do you think they are? What kind of run could they make in the tournament? I think a few years ago, when some Pac-12 team made the Final Four, another Pac-12 coach said, I don't think anyone in the Pac-12 is surprised; we know how good everyone is.

TARA VANDERVEER: I remember that. I know that I would not want to look at that bracket and be going to Corvallis. We're not going to have to. But we'll be cheering for them. I told that to Scott.

They have an outstanding team. He does a great job. We'll be cheering for every Pac-12 team to do really well.

Wouldn't it be fun to have four teams in the Final Four, put us all in different brackets, and we'll be cheering for them.

But we're really excited, and we just want to keep our season going; that's where our focus is.