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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2014Ali GibsonRuth HamblinScott RueckSEATTLE, WASHINGTON Oregon State – 70 THE MODERATOR: Welcome and congratulations to the Oregon State Beavers. Coach Scott Rueck, Ali Gibson, and Ruth Hamblin. Coach, an opening statement? COACH RUECK: A great win for us tonight, obviously. Excited about where we're at, excited what these student‑athletes have accomplished and what our program has accomplished in such a short time. I think that is the perspective we have to reflect on a little bit to know what we'll be playing for tomorrow and what we've accomplished to this point. Heck of a game tonight. Washington State is such an explosive offensive scoring team. I thought we did a great job defending them, and we saw who they were down the stretch. They didn't quit. They kept battling. That is the reason they are where they are, and that's they're doing a great job. June is doing a great job. Excited to get the W and looking forward to tomorrow. Q.  What do you hope folks will make of this Pac‑12 tournament with the final set‑up the way it is, and you're the only top 5 seeds left in the field? COACH RUECK: Yeah, it's interesting. The teams last Monday when we saw the seeding, the teams that you would expect to be facing on every account are not the ones that are there. It shares or it shows the parity in our conference. There are a lot of great coaches and a lot of talent. Congrats to USC. That is a big W tonight for them, obviously. But anything can happen. That commercial that we run. Anything can happen in this conference. That is how tough it is. You can't relax, and that's been evident in the tournament so far. Q. You pride yourself on defensive intensity. And you said one of the markers of a great program and what you're seeing from this team is the way they've approached the scout and they relish shutting down opponents. Is this another step in the long road that you've seen them take? COACH RUECK: Yeah, this has been indicative of all three of our games. This is a team that puts up a ton of points. You've all watched that this week. But we've been able to hold them down in all three games. Tonight certainly they made their run at the second half and did a great job there, where I thought they got loose. But when the game was really in doubt, we locked them up, forced them to weakness, and made them miss shots. I think I read something that said Utah missed a bunch of wide open shots last night. That's a lie. That's not true. We made them take tough shots they don't normally want to take. There is a reason they missed shots. There is a reason our field goal defense is 1/1000th point behind Stanford's for second in our conference. There is a reason these guys sell out every day. They're committed to it, and having the nation's top shot blocker or whatever Ruth is, she's close to that, the best in the Pac‑12. I know that. Having her back there certainly doesn't hurt that. Q. You guys came in and already projected to be an NCAA Tournament team. Now you're playing for a chance at the automatic berth. Do you still feel that you're trying to prove something? COACH RUECK: I think that we're going to have to continue to do that for a while. We're not a household name in our sport yet. That's what we're all here to do. That's why I came back to my alma mater. That's why each of the players on our team chose Oregon State to turn it into that. That is the story of our team. So if anybody looks at the numbers for what this team has accomplished, I think that speaks for itself. But we're excited to be playing in a venue tomorrow where more people will get to see us. We're so blessed to have the network that we have. I think national exposure is at an all‑time high, so I think that's changing quickly. ALI GIBSON: I feel like we're always trying to prove something. We're trying to prove that we're better each game, and I think you can tell that through each game that we play. This is my first tournament win, and I think that we're on a roll, and hopefully we can get to the NCAA Tournament. But of course, you have to prove something each day. RUTH HAMBLIN: I agree. We're proving it to ourselves and to everyone what we're capable of. We're selling out on the floor every night, and that's showing in our record. Q. Playing as well as you are, are you a little disappointed you don't get a shot at Stanford? COACH RUECK: You picture them in the final. They've never not been in one. I learned that today.  So that's kind of what you expect. But, no, we're happy to be playing anybody in that game. So USC is a team that beat us and then we beat them. We had two great games against each other, so we're looking forward to the third. It's going to be a great game tomorrow. Q. Ruth, and Scott if you want to comment after. Ali is one of two upperclassmen on this team and often credited for being a spark plug both on and off the court as a leader. Can you attribute what she does exactly that is so special? RUTH HAMBLIN: Yeah, Ali brings energy every day. You know what you're going to get. It's little things like hustle plays, getting on the floor, grabbing dead balls, she's so good at this. It inspires us all to get going. She's a good energy provider in that way. She cares about all of us and has our backs, so that helps in a lot of ways. COACH RUECK: Yeah, Ali, when we recruited her, she was described to us as the greatest teammate and leader that had ever played in one of the best programs on the west coast in high school girls basketball and her AAU program. And at that point, that was our first year. We were like that's exactly who we need to build this program around. She was our only freshman we were able to recruit that first year. We were hired so late. Ali has provided that. She's a big‑time winner. She's used to winning everything she does, that's all she's done. So you saw that tonight. When we needed a hustle play, she provided it. When we needed a three to go down, she provided it. And I think maybe four in the second half, something like that. So she's glue, and she brings energy every minute, and we all count on that, including the coaches. Q. Did your parents make it down? RUTH HAMBLIN: They did. They made it down for the tournament. Q. How long did it take them? RUTH HAMBLIN: It's a 16‑hour drive. Q. They did drive? RUTH HAMBLIN: They drove. Q. Have you talked to them since the game ended? RUTH HAMBLIN: No, we're locked in our locker room so far (laughing). Q. Ruth, you said you're still trying to prove to yourself that you guys still belong at this level, and proving to yourself in every game. People hit big shots today. You guys just looked like this is what we're supposed to do. Have you believed for a while that you guys belong at this level? RUTH HAMBLIN: Yeah, I think the belief is definitely starting to become a reality for us. We know what we're going to bring every night in the game and everyone's going to come mentally prepared. It's definitely that standard that our team has built and it's now a foundation for our program. That is definitely something that comes with every night. Q. You guys expect a real defensive struggle with USC tomorrow? What are you looking forward to in that game? COACH RUECK: Yeah, that was what our last game was. They've defended us very well both games that we've played against them. We defended them well the second game that we played. So that's what I would anticipate; it's going to be not easy to find shots. It's going to come down to great offensive execution. I'm anticipating both teams dialed in on the defensive end, no question. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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