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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2013Brittany BoydGennifer BrandonLindsay GottliebSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Cal – 78 THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement and then questions. COACH GOTTLIEB: Thanks, everyone, for being here. We love Seattle so far. I think this event is first rate, so I'm really happy that you're all here to cover it. This is a really good win for us. I know it sounds kind of vague, but we wanted to come out here and play Cal basketball, and I think that was on display.  We were terrific on the boards. I think our defense kick started everything. I think our players were aggressive on offense, despite the fact that USC tried to slow us down and sag a little bit, I think we stayed aggressive. That team has a lot of really talented players. We've had two very close games with them. So I thought that our players were very focused. I thought they were sharp. And this is a rally good win for us in a match‑up that we didn't think was going to be easy, and I thought our players took it to another level and I'm happy to get the win and move on. Q. Lindsay, you did have two close games with them. What do you think? Their rebounding margin certainly sticks out. Do you think that's the difference in a game that was not as close as the first two games that you played? COACH GOTTLIEB: Yeah, I think that's always the big difference for us. I think it's one of the things that makes us a good team, and USC in the second game made it a point of saying we're going to neutralize the boards. Obviously, Gennifer had the ridiculous rebounding game, and they said we're not going to leave those post players. They helped with Brittany's kid and Layshia, and Afure's kid. So we were a little more ready for that. Also credit the will of in particular tonight of Talia and Gen, but our post group. They just said we're not going to be denied. That was really good. And I thought Brittany and Eliza and Afure really sharp with the looks on offense, and that took some pressure off Layshia. So the rebounding was a huge difference for us in a game where it's not easy for us to out‑rebound them because they're pretty good on the boards too. Q. Lindsay, what was this week like, I guess, handling the accolades of sharing the conference title? How did you think your team handled kind of all that attention being on them coming out here today? COACH GOTTLIEB: I can say they impress me more every day. The win last weekend in Seattle was really fun. This team has every day focused on only the game in front of us and the next thing and the next task. Then all of a sudden, winning that game was a genuine show of emotion since their first time doing it. It was true and really neat. Then at the same time, I think we were able to appreciate that moment and move on quickly, there wasn't ever a feeling from anyone in our Locker room that that's enough. That we've arrived. They have stayed hungry. This week because Oregon State and USC sort of play us the same on the defensive end, we worked a lot on our own offense and doing the things we want to do. We tried to prep a little for both defensively, so we'd be ready in a quick turnaround. But really it was making sure that we were focused, fresh physically and also sharp physically. But we have great leadership and the rest of the team follows our seniors, and everyone was locked in after the smiles and everything of last weekend. Q. Brittany, despite the relatively comfortable margin you won by, what do you think you still need to work on as a team to advance here and beyond? BRITTANY BOYD: Well, we can always get better from here. That is defense, offense, rebounding, everything is always you go out there and see how good we played tonight, and we can only go up. So I just feel like everything just keep going, doing what we have to do, and trying to perfect what we're trying to do. We can only go up from here. Q. Gennifer, can you talk about yesterday, Ariya Crook from USC said the focus on their team was going to be to block you off of the offensive glass. If it took five players to do so, they were going to do that. Well, that didn't work. Can you talk a little about matching up with USC and how this game was different than in the past? GENNIFER BRANDON: Well, USC is always a physical game, so as a team we just tried to, not only my assists in, but also tried to be above it. I knew they were going to try to block me out, so I just tried to slither my way through and be ready for after they shoot just be ready to go get the rebound anyway I could. Q. Brittany, you took a couple of spills. How do you feel after that? BRITTANY BOYD: I'm perfectly fine. It hurt a little bit, but I'm fine. COACH GOTTLIEB: She's never taken out the ref before. She falls a lot, but she took Anita out with her. Q. I asked Michael Cooper how far he thought you could go in the NCAA Tournament, and he said the Elite 8. He said you still have some roughness to your team, and not a great perimeter shooting team. Is that a fair evaluation, or are you going to go after him right now? COACH GOTTLIEB: It doesn't really concern me what Michael Cooper thinks of our team. I think we can always shoot the ball better. I want to look at a stat line and see we're shooting 50%. I appreciate people that know basketball, and I certainly don't think we're a flawless team and we want to get better. I think every team would say the same thing. But we're going to be happy to hopefully play again tomorrow in this tournament, and the goal is to be playing Sunday, and to look forward to the NCAA Tournament and just happy to be in that position. Q. Lindsay, to be fair to Coop, he also said the difference today was toughness. That you guys were a much tougher team. Can you talk about your team's toughness today? COACH GOTTLIEB: These young women are incredible. They have the best smiles off the court. They're fun. They'll dance. But you get between those lines on the basketball court, and they are just‑‑ they rise to every occasion and they're really tough. They're not dirty. We take a lot of contact, and we just know how to battle with anyone, and that is from our point guard to our five player to our last person on the bench. It's a collective resolve, and they just get it done. And I told them today to play through not getting calls. To play through some physicality from the other team that we know is coming, and I am just impressed by them and their ability to battle physically on the court and to stay mentally really strong. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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