Stanford Postgame Press Conference | 2024 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Final

Stanford Postgame Press Conference | 2024 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Final

All right let’s get going welcome Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara Vander camon Brink Ellena bosana Kiki iraan coach will let you open and then take questions uh first I’d like to congratulate USC I thought they played a very aggressive game um and uh Mackenzie Forbes had a great game um but I also

Want to congratulate uh Stanford Cardinal and the three women that I’m sitting with up here I’m very proud of how hard they played uh I don’t think um you know we didn’t do a lot of the things that we wanted to do but uh I thought Elena uh number one played great

Defense on uh ju guu um you know worked really really hard at that and uh just was really focused and and she had some help obviously from other people but um I think that was uh something that we’re really proud of um you know they had uh

They had some people make some shots early that uh don’t have necessarily um you know really the the shooters that um they they haven’t had the numbers all season long but they knocked down some shots and that was uh a little problem for us um you know for us I think that

We have to execute offensively better uh we didn’t we didn’t always get the shots that we wanted and uh just uh more than anything probably have to rebound better but um Cam and Kiki are warriors in there they battled they worked really hard and this is um I’m very proud of

Them and we’re just we’re going to get ready for the N way tournament thank you coach we’ll start in the back here Willie Willie remirez with the associate of press Tara I think it was the last game you had mentioned you came to the de and said I hope I

Don’t have to keep coming up here talking about coming back from halftime was today a day where USC just did everything right or were there things that you wish you would have done differently in terms of making your adjustments because you had made adjustments so perfectly throughout

About this tournament um what what was it today that was different well I think that um I I think that really we’re capable of playing better and I’m just going to say that we’re counting on a lot of young players that I thought stepped up beautifully uh

Elena’s game uh she didn’t play in the tournament really much last year when she she came to this tournament and really made a difference um Kiki was young is a young player um she I thought she had a great tournament um you know obviously uh uh cam uh you know we’re

Getting blood off her Jersey all the whole whole time when she’s coming over the bench uh she really battles out there um and I was very proud of Khloe how Khloe came in and really worked hard defensively and made some really big plays for us um but um today was their

Day and it was uh it wasn’t that we were so bad I thought they were very good far Corner Marissa and Jimmy San Francisco Chronicle uh Cam and Kiki what did USC do really well to outrebound you guys it doesn’t happen every game what did what did you see from them to box

You guys out so well um we were in a weird defense so I think we tried our best and you know they just had a really good game so yeah props to them they’re a great team Michelle Michelle Smith from the Knick Kiki was it you guys couldn’t quite get

It you know maybe you got as close as five but then it kept pushing back out to 8910 was it frustrating for you guys not to be able to cut it closer and really sort of seize moment well of course we want to win the game

But I think throughout the game we never wavered we never gave in or thought we were going to lose till the buzzer sounded we thought we had a chance of winning the game so I think we were just very resilient no matter what the score was in

Front Alexa Philo ESPN Tara the last time you all played USC you were most disappointed by the offensive execution and it seemed like some of that happened again today are they were they the same problems with the offense when it came to those two matchups or what what

Specifically went wrong well I think that um I think we have to um you know be able to just do some basic things better um in terms of moving the ball and running offense and I have to take responsibility for it you know we’ve got

A we’ve got a week to really work on it which we will and I think um you know maybe also you’re playing some teams in the tournament that don’t know you like you know the teams you play in your conference know you um but we have great

Offensive players and I got to put him in position to be successful and I think that um we we can we can do more with uh you know kind of what we’ve got and that’s what our plan is right there um Tara is there any concern about

Defending to three in this game uh USC shot 45% from three there were a few moments against Cal and Oregon State as well where they were getting some is that perimeter defense a concern for you well you know um when you look at Players like um as an example Mackenzie

Forb she’s a fifth year grad student and uh you know played had a great career you know for four years uh you look at the same thing with uh uh Padilla um they’re they’re very good they’re they’re very very good they shoot the ball very well um and obviously you

Throw in um the the focus that we had to uh extend to ju guu but um you know they they had some people come in that were uh that uh number four Kayla Williams hit some big shots for them um you know one of our biggest problem I

Think is we gave up 18 oards and if and if you know we were scrambling a little bit but um we we have to put bodies on people and then we get six oboards so I think that you know that was our rebounding was really the the

Thing that let us down and we have been a great rebounding team but they’re they’re big they’re physical and like you said they hit some uh some really big shots um that kind of get you a little discouraged Alex right in the front uh Tara from a big picture

Perspective you saw what Lindsay did obviously when she was at Cal and now being able to do something like this at USC what stands out to you about just the way she’s able to coach and and build a program um well we know we have a great program because we have great players

And uh some of our players are young and developing and I think they’re doing extremely well um but um you know she’s uh they they have uh you know they’re physical uh they’re big um and then they have some real good experience and obviously gu guu is a a generational

Talent front row again uh Eden lassi Yahoo sports Tara you mentioned the defense that Elena played today on juu um what was kind of the thought process behind the defensive game plan and how did you feel like it was executed I thought it was executed uh really really well and um some different

People for them you know obviously uh she came in had 51 on us and uh Elena worked I thought she focused and and did a great job and she had great help from Cam and Kiki um and at at some point to help when they were rotating and

Doubling uh ju guu that’s when uh like Padilla hit two shots outside and Kayla Williams hit two shots right in the beginning so then that kind of um you know affs in terms of what you can do in terms of how how extended you can get uh

In doubling but I thought Ellena played fantastic game uh cam battled the whole game uh Kiki battled the whole game uh Hannah jump struggled a little bit she had some nice looks um but uh you know just I I we’re just going to build on it

U and Brook kind of got clobbered in the head she has a big egg in the front of her head um but we’ll we’ll just get better um because of playing a great game uh I’m just we like Cam said just give them their props they had a great

Day today well Simon’s anenberg media Lindsay gotle has talked about you know when she was is a a senior in college over winter break she wrote All uh college coaches letters and she wrote one to you and you wrote her back what’s it like you know now seeing it all kind

Of come full circle and how far coach Gotti has come since then well I think it’s I think it’s great to have um you know whether it’s Lindsay or we have so many great young women coaches in our conference and to play this level of competition whether it’s AIA Barnes or

Lindsay um you know uh Jr Payne uh they’re they’re just uh Corey they’re all doing really really well and I’m proud of him um I’m really I’m really sad that this is the last uh conference game and the last uh last time that we’ll be uh playing them but um you know

It’s uh it’s been a great ride Michelle Alena can you talk about the defensive effort on ju guu and um how you thought about how the defensive game plan was executed I knew had to be very focused on her we knew that she’s the best

Player um um I tried to keep her off from going right and I knew that Cam and Kiki were next to me so I don’t know I just I just work hard on this side uh TI Reed Blaze radio um coach um in have you thought about it all in

Terms of you know what you’ve done for women’s basketball on the west coast and how you’ve helped build up the Pack 12 and have players like Juju wanting to come and play in this conference and how it’s contributed to the competitiveness of um the conference and it getting played in this final

Season um I can’t tell you that I really think about that I’m more concerned about you know how we’re going to defend a player like ju guu but I’m I’m I’m exceedingly proud of the great players that have come through our program at Stanford including the three that I’m

Sitting with um and and the fact that we do have such a great League um that will you know uh it’ll get us ready for the NCAA tournament and so I’m I’m feeling very confident that we can learn from this game and um get better and you know

And then I’m going to root for all the Pack 12 schools uh to do really well in the in the tournament and I will take some pride in how well they do Jeff um hi Jeff metf back to a hot line um do you I’m assuming you still think

That that you guys should be a number one seed and possibly a second number one seed from the conference um how do you just feel about where your position is now after today you know Jeff the most important thing is not seeding at all um and that’s going to be

Up to the committee um you know again I think that we um we won the regular season and in a lot of ways our team because we depend so heavily on cam and Kiki is not a three- game and four day turn team but more of a two day and and

Three days if you you know what I mean so um I think we’re in great position for the NCAA the most important thing is our team being healthy and people really wanting to play with each other and they’re a very close team uh we have great leadership on our team so I think

I think we’re going to be in really good shape whatever seed we are and we know that um you know we want to do better than we did last year you know we want to go to the regional we we have a goal of going to the final four and that’s

Not going to change Willie uh Willie RZ associate of press cam you’ve won the National Championship you’ve experienced some tough losses and I know it’s your fresh off the court um but you always seem to remain so poised as well can you just talk about where this loss you know how

It sinks in it’s the last one in the Pack 12 we don’t know yet quite could be your last pack 12 Tournament game but in terms of how you’re going to soak this one in Shake It Off and and move forward maybe feeding off of other losses that

You’ve experienced since you’ve been at the the peak in the valley yeah I mean basketball is a game of wins and losses you’re not going to win every game so um I just kind of sat down the girls and I was like we tried our best I’m really

Proud of Alena I’m really proud of Kiki I think we fought our best shots just didn’t fall for us and we kind of gambled on some people on defense so um I’m not disappointed I mean it’s not fun to lose it sucks and it sucks that you

Know it’s the last pack 12 game ever because it’s such a great conference um but yeah I think we’re just going to use this we learn from it we go into March and yeah we we’re going to turn some heads hopefully any further questions we’re close on that all right thank you thank

You everyone

Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer along with student-athletes Cameron Brink, Kiki Iriafen and Elena Bosgana met with the media following the team’s loss in the 2024 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship game, presented by Acura, on Sunday, March 10 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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