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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2012Joseph AndersKali BennettJanae FulcherLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Stanford – 52 THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement, please? COACH ANDERS: Great ballgame. Very, very proud of my team. To battle the number two team in the nation to the last two minutes of the ballgame and just allowed them to be able to get far too many rebounds through the course of the ballgame. But if there was a championship given for heart and for courage, then this basketball team would absolutely get that championship. I could not be more proud of a group of young ladies for the way in which they have embraced me in the interim capacity and allowed us to go for our dreams and to step up to this particular stage and to represent themselves, represent their families, represent our university and our brand in the way that they did. Q. Coach, I know it's small consolation, but you nearly held Stanford to the lowest points in a victory that they've ever had. Can you talk a little bit about what your game plan was on the defense and exactly how you felt the team executed it? COACH ANDERS: Well, what we wanted to do was to pressure the basketball and to make it difficult for them to be able to get the ball to the two sisters. We were able to do that and actually put their guards back on their heels. They were able to get a little bit more dribble penetration than we wanted them to. But, again, there were different phases of the ballgame where we actually went to a kind of a desert‑swarm type of a defense where we wanted to go after every pass that went into Nnemkadi. We were able to get her somewhat into a little disjointed with that. But as we did that and they were able to slip other players to the basket for those rebounds.  But, again, my guards, my posts, Kali in particular, being able to step out when people were able to break us down and just continue to play our brand of defense. Great effort. Q. In a bigger sense, how much did you feel a sense of transition with Coach Anders, and how much do you have to transition back when Coach Thorne comes back that few weeks? JANAE FULCHER: Joe's been on our staff since the time we've been here, so it wasn't too big of a transition. I guess for the new players it would be more of a transition to go back. But in regards to me, I've been under Charli, and Joseph as a post coach has been overseeing the post. So I've been with him since I've been here. So I don't think it's going to be too hard to transition back. Q. What were they doing to Kimberly to hold her scoreless? COACH ANDERS: Well, physical. Kimberly just being sleight of build, whenever we've had a physical ballgame, then it's been really difficult for her to match‑up just with the physicality of the game, and they were able to get in her head in terms of just the mentality, and it kind of took us out of what we wanted to do. Again, very grateful for Jada Blackwell as well as Janae being able to come in at that particular time and just continue to push her effort forward. But it was the physicality of the game that was the difference for Kim. Q. When you were down by 14 at halftime, can you talk about what you discussed at halftime and how you were able to kind of stay composed in that period until you got it down under 10 points? COACH ANDERS: I talked about the movie, The Replacements, and Coach McGinty and heart‑‑ (laughing). Just joking. No, we talked about, again, taking it one possession at a time. We talked about making sure that we put everything into every tick that we absolutely could possibly do. We talked about making sure that for the next 20 minutes, that we made as much noise as we could with our effort, with our courage, and with our heart. And I would say that we did that. Q. Coach, you held Stanford to four field goals in the second half, which I think is quite remarkable. If you have any comment on that, I'd be interested. I'd also be interested to know what your thoughts are in the postseason for the team? COACH ANDERS: Our identity has always been wrapped into our defensive side of the ball. This year we've been able to hold seven teams below 20 points below what they have averaged over the course of this year. We were able today to hold Stanford 25 points below what they averaged this year. Absolutely, I believe that this team belongs in the dance. I believe that from the beginning of the season to now, we've represented what it means to be one of those premier teams, one of those teams that have worked to position themselves for postseason play. I just feel like we've earned that opportunity. Q. You had some success knocking the sisters around. Kind of talk about getting in there and mixing it up with them? KALI BENNETT: I mean they're both very physical players. I think I'm a very strong person, so I take that to my advantage. Our goal in the game was if we couldn't get the rebound, make sure they didn't get the rebound. So I really tried to focus on that and get box outs. Clearly I didn't get that many rebounds. But I think I held them from getting some opportunities, sa I took what I could get. Q. I'm wondering whether Coach Turner Thorne had any messages or words for the team before this game or whether she just wanted to leave it completely to you at this point? COACH ANDERS: I always hear from her after a ballgame. She text me yesterday to say good luck. Now you've got a chance to go for the big ticket game. Q. Joseph was just saying that he feels like you guys are deserving of an NCAA berth. How do you feel about that? How difficult will it be to do WNIT if that doesn't come? JANAE FULCHER: Obviously want to get to the big dance, but we're happy with‑‑ not necessarily ecstatic, but we still want to be playing in the postseason. So if it's not the NCAA Tournament, then we'll take the NIT. We just want to continue playing after season. So we just want to take it out for the long ride. KALI BENNETT: I think that we've shown that we can play with any team. I mean, preseason we were neck and neck with Rutgers the whole time. Stanford, we always played them close. We dropped a couple games this year, but I feel like overall we're a team that's defense separates us from most. So I feel like if we could bring that to the tournament, it would be beneficial to all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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