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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2014Lindsay GottliebReshanda GrayAfure JemerigbeSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Washington State – 91 THE MODERATOR: We welcome California and Coach Lindsay Gottlieb, Afure Jemerigbe and Reshanda Gray. Coach, opening comments and then questions. COACH GOTTLIEB: I think Washington State earned every bit of that win. They coached better. They played better. They shot the ball better. They played better defense. They rebounded better, and that's not because we weren't trying. I thought they came out and did an outstanding job. They're a really good basketball team and they played like it today, and we couldn't do enough. We tried to hang in there and hang in there and weather some storms, and we just didn't quite have enough. I really credit them. Obviously, we're disappointed, but we are excited for the fact that we're a postseason team, and we'll use this to get better. As you recall, we got spanked pretty bad here last year, and turned that into a long postseason run. I know our players are looking forward to getting back in the gym and fixing some things and having a chance to play basketball again. Q. Lindsay, can you talk about that hanging in there, hanging in there? Does that get wary when you're playing from behind a lot? COACH GOTTLIEB: At some point I was happy that we were down four or down three or shooting so well. They can be streaky. So I just kept thinking if we can get a couple stops and string together as much as they can make really difficult shots, they can miss a couple in a row. I was hoping we could do enough to hang in there. So I felt positive about that. But at some point they just continued to make plays. We couldn't get those stops, and it got away from us a little bit. Wearing on us was not really the word. They just kept putting the gas pedal down and credit to them for doing that. Q. Lindsay, you made a great game comeback, but you didn't have Boyd in those final minutes, and that was pretty critical. With all her talents and everything, was this the kind of game that in this particular game or perhaps her competitiveness get the best of her? COACH GOTTLIEB: I think she's always competitive and hates to lose and wants to do everything in her power to make us win, and those are really, really good qualities and some of the reasons why I enjoy coaching her so much. I think it's part of her continued growth to sort of understand how to manage the game in any situation, but I think this was a collective loss. I think we couldn't get enough stops on the defensive end, and they really exploited us with their face‑up four players,Romberg and Cooks, and their guards were terrific and they shot the ball well. I think that was the story more than anything else. But we'll continue to grow and learn, and Boyd is one of the best players in the country, and she channels that really well. We just have to get to the point where we're all figuring out how to win when it's not easy. Q. Coach, could you just talk about the guards in Galdeira and Presley? What do you do when Romberg and Cooks go after double digit points in the same game? COACH GOTTLIEB: Yeah, that's a big problem for us. If you look at the two teams, on paper we have the advantage inside because of having two posts that can rebound the ball, score the ball. That is sort of our MO. Their MO is they have a face‑up four. It's not like we don't know that. I always tell our posts we have to be able to guard people on the perimeter and keep them from exploiting us there, and we have to exploit them inside. So obviously, Jem and Reshanda, combining for 46 is good. But we can't give up what we gave up on the perimeter. Credit to them. They picked us apart on the wing, pick‑and‑roll. They do a good job of using those perimeter face‑up type post players and gave us more problems today than we would have liked. Q. Coach, coming into the game, obviously you know the two big scorers. What was your plan defensively and what happened? COACH GOTTLIEB: Right, if you look across our conference, there are a lot of teams with a pair of good guards. There is just really good guard play. I really trust our perimeter defense. I think in the past we've done a good job with that. But Washington State presents particular problems because there are four of them that can shoot, so you can't get as much help on the interior from your other post player because she's out chasing around the shooter on the perimeter. So we had two good games with them, and I felt like we got the best of the different styles; and obviously, today, in a glaring way, they did what they do really well. It was a big problem for us. I'm sure I'm going to look at the film and see a bunch of areas defensively where we could be better. But I think it was a lot more of them being really good and we just had a rough night defending them. Q. What is your take away from today? Last year you guys left here disappointed as well, but you put it away and were able to do something great in the NCAA Tournament? RESHANDA GRAY: My takeaway is we still have room for a lot of learning. I give props to Washington State. They came out and played a really good game, and I wish them the best. But I'm still riding on my team because I still have faith in us. This is just another lesson for us. Q. Can you speak a little bit about what was different about guarding those two guards today versus the last two times you played them? AFURE JEMERIGBE: I just think they hit shots. It seemed like the basket was really big for them. They were knocking down shots, and I think Galdeira and Presley were persistent in scoring and aggressive. Galdeira was just like, I'm not going to let anybody stop me. She's really good about that. We let her have too many shots. I think just overall they were making shots and we couldn't defend them. Q. Reshanda, can you explain how Brittany was trying to help you out? I saw her on the sideline when she did foul out. RESHANDA GRAY: She was just being positive. Like it's not over yet. We still have a lot of time on the clock. Just being positive. Q. You don't have Brittany down that stretch run and you have to put together a comeback at that point. Does that make it more difficult for you guys? AFURE JEMERIGBE: Yeah, I think it's always difficult when she's out. She's our leader and point guard and the up‑tempo player on the court when we're down. Even when we're up she always has that energy and kind of getting us to keep going. It is difficult. I mean, we tried to keep the energy. Like Reshanda said, from the bench, she was really positive and still trying to get us to keep going and let us know that we still have it, we're still in this game. I try to reiterate that because I am on the court. I try to reiterate that to everybody else and get us to keep going and keep pushing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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