ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 5, 2025

Kate Paye

Courtney Ogden

Stanford Cardinal

Postgame Press Conference

Clemson 63, Stanford 46

KATE PAYE: Credit to Clemson. I thought they came out and played extremely hard. They have a lot of really experienced players. I thought they really just kind of punched us in the mouth. We really struggled to get anything going offensively. I think credit to them.

At the same time, this was our first ACC Tournament experience. Our team came in playing well with a lot of confidence, and it just was not our day. I'm really proud of Courtney Ogden. I thought she really battled out there. We're not going to let this one game define us or who we are. We're hopeful we get to continue to play, and we're grateful for the opportunity to be here today.

Q. You said it felt like they hit you in the mouth. That second and third quarter, what was the difference where the game got away from you there? What wasn't working?

KATE PAYE: I thought we just really struggled offensively, and that caused us to get tight and maybe press on both ends of the floor a little bit.

Again, I thought they were playing really hard, but we just weren't moving the ball the way I feel like we've been moving the ball the past couple weeks. We tried a lot of different combinations of people. It just wasn't our day.

Again, credit to Clemson. I thought they played very hard. In a lot of situations I don't think we really helped ourselves.

Q. Courtney, start of the third quarter you guys got a little something going, I think cut it to eight points, and looked like you had found your bearings. They hit a couple threes in counter. How deflating was that, or did you feel like you could still answer at that point?

COURTNEY OGDEN: Basketball is a game of runs we always we think we can win the game every moment. Unfortunately this one did not go our way in the end, but we were telling ourselves the whole time, we've still got it, we've still got it.

They want to go on a run; we can go on a run. Unfortunately it didn't happen, but our mindset was there.

Q. Coach, you said you're hopeful to keep playing. If the NCAA Tournament doesn't happen for you guys, are you open to playing in another postseason tournament?

KATE PAYE: Yes, we are.

Q. Courtney, like Coach said, you came into this game playing really well, a lot of confidence, had won four of your last five or five of your last six. What do you feel like that stretch did for you guys in terms of chemistry and how do you take that forward?

COURTNEY OGDEN: Like you said, we're playing with a lot of confidence. I think that's really good. We're a very young team, so even though we weren't able to show the confidence that we've worked for here, we can bring that into any games that we have left and also into the future.