Wednesday links leading to Indy
Still working…
http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6270500/five-storylines-watch-final-four
Kayla Pedersen - Deb Gumbley file photo
Archive for March, 2011
USC reaches WNIT Final
Hamster wheel spinning very fast.
Here’s the story from the USC Athletic Department
SID: Darcy Couch
USC Women Race Past Redbirds, Into WNIT Title Game
Trojans snap Illinois State’s home win streak with a dominating 63-36 victory in WNIT semis.
NORMAL, ILL. – The USC women’s basketball team handed Illinois State its first home loss of the year as the road warrior Trojans clamped down defensively, hauled in their fourth straight road win and secured themselves a spot in the WNIT Championship game with a 63-36 win over the Redbirds. Playing in Normal, Illinois, in the WNIT Semifinals, the Women of Troy got out ahead of the Redbirds early and kept them out of reach down the stretch in front of a crowd of over four thousand at Redbird Arena on Wednesday night. USC improves to 24-12 overall with the win, while Illinois State finishes 24-11 after their third straight WNIT Semifinal appearance. USC will face Toledo in the WNIT Championship at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday (April 2) in Toledo, Ohio.
USC silenced Illinois State from the floor for almost 10 full minutes to start the game as the Trojans built up a 16-1 lead on the Redbirds. ISU would pick up the scoring pace by the close of the half, however, improving to 36 percent from the floor in the first half to trail USC’s 45 percent effort as the Trojans led 30-22 at halftime thanks in part to 11 first-half points from Jacki Gemelos.
The Trojan defense allowed only 14 second-half points by the Redbirds while pouring in 33 of their own. By the final buzzer, Gemelos led the way with 15 points, with Ashley Corral adding 14 and Briana Gilbreath putting in 11 while Christina Marinacci and Cassie Harberts cleaned up the boards. Marinacci finished with 13 rebounds, and Harberts hauled in 11. ISU had no players finish in double figures, with Emily Hanley scoring nine to lead ISU. USC finished out the game shooting 46 percent to ISU’s 36 percent, and USC won out on the boards 47-29.
Jacki Gemelos generated seven points, two assists, three rebounds and a steal for the Trojan in the first six and a half minutes of play as USC opened up a 14-1 lead on its hosts. It took almost 10 minutes for the Redbirds to score from the floor, as Amanda Clifton hit a jumper at 10:11 to make it 16-2 Trojans. USC spread the 3-point love among a trio of Trojans in the first half, as Briana Gilbreath nailed one soon after an ISU three to make it a 21-6 USC advantage with 8:15 on the clock. Gemelos would get to double digits with a hard-working jumper in the lane, and then Corral nailed her second three of the game to push the Trojans up 28-14 as the 5-minute mark came up. The Redbirds would close the gap on some improved shooting, pulling to trail the Trojans 30-22 at the half.
Corral pulled into double digits during an 8-0 USC scoring run to open the second half as USC got out to its largest lead to that point with a 38-22 advantage. Christina Marinacci hauled in her 10th rebound of the game as the 11-minute mark approached with USC leading on the boards 33-21 and up 49-30 on the scoreboard. With 4 minutes to go, USC was up 23 as Briana Gilbreath had joined the double-digit scoring club. Michelle Jenkins would become the eighth Trojan to score in the game with a jumper late, and USC punched its ticket to the WNIT final with a 63-36 final.
Tuesday morning links from the Regional Final
Stanford in the zone…gostanford.com
Photo by Don Feria - Stanford Athletics
http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/032911aaa.html
Ogwumike sisters dominate…espnW.com
http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6269039/nneka-chiney-ogwumike-provide-stamina-stanford-cardinal
Game recap…Pac-10.org
Monday morning links from Spokane
Pedersen and Pohlen talk about UNC and moving forward
The Stanford senior tandem of Jeanette Pohlen and Kayla Pedersen talked to leftcoasthoops in the locker room about last night’s close win over North Carolina and what comes next.
Kayla Pedersen
Q: Did you feel relief after last night’s game?
A: Yeah, it was definitely a relief. We kind of feel like we dodged a bullet in some way. I mean, I always felt in control of the game, it was just a matter of what the score was going to be.
Q: On your last trip to Spokane, that regional semifinal game with Pittsburgh was kind of a slog as well, wasn’t it?
A: I didn’t really compare them, but at this stage, all the other No. 1 teams are having a hard time. They’ve all had close games. As you get later in the tournament, the separation between the teams is smaller and you have the darkhorses coming out and playing their best at the end of the season.
Q: After this, are you pretty confident in your team’s ability to win a close game?
A: Definitely. I think as long as we came out with a win, you have to take it and say that we willed that win. We really fought for it. That was the bottom line and that does give us some confidence that we can close out a close game.
Q: As a senior, how did you feel looking at the scoreboard last night. Were you wishing you guys had a more comfortable lead?
A: I never thought ‘Oh my gosh, this could be my last game, but after…I was like ‘Man, that was a little too close for comfort’. I would like to not experience that again. That didn’t go through my mind then.
Q: Don’t you guys need to shoot better tomorrow than you have been.
A: We do. I think that we’re saving them right now. That’s what we all keep saying to ourselves. We’re saving them.
Q: It’s going to be very loud. We’re you guys in the gym for the Gonzaga game?
A: Not for alot of it. Maybe two minutes. It will be fun. It was sold-out when we played them early in the year. We went to Tennessee, DePaul was crazy, Cal was really loud. We’re used to that and I think we kind of feed off of it too, people rooting against you makes you want it even more.
Jeanette Pohlen
Q: How are you feeling after last night? Relief?
A: Yes, but also just really excited. If the season ended last night, I think I would have been crushed. More than anything I was happy that we were going to get another chance, another game in. We want to go to the Final Four. It was a battle out there, it wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure. But like we’ve been saying, we found a way to win that game. People came out and made big plays and even in the last minute of the game, we made some defensive stops and make some big O-boards.
Q: Looking at last night’s stat sheet (Pohlen was 1 for 9 and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc), Tara’s always said you have amnesia, you need to have it now? Just move on?
A: That’s really all I can do, because if I dwell on it, that won’t be good for me or the team. Over all of this season, I’ve been shooting pretty well and I don’t think one game defines how I shoot. But I definitely want to come out and prove that I can shoot, not necessarily force it, but when I’m open, take it.
Q: There was a stretch (in the North Carolina game) where you didn’t shoot for a while? Were you looking to distribute the ball more?
A: In the second half we were really trying to go inside more and Nneka was really stepping up big. But yeah, the second half we were moving the ball alot more, and then hit whoever was posting up inside because it was usually a one-on-one. It wasn’t that I wasn’t looking for my shot, but other people were open.
My links for last night’s game
More links heading into Spokane
A bevy of links from the weekend of NCAA action
Yep, I’ve been busy.
What Tara Really meant was….on espnW
Stanford-St. John’s Game Story for espnW
Stanford-St. John’s Game story for Pac-10.org.
Toni Kokenis feature for Pac-10.org
http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/222888/stanfords-kokenis-ascends-to-important-role.aspx
UCLA Sunday Press Conference quotes
Courtesy of Gonzaga Athletics:
NO. 3 SEED UCLA BRUINS SUNDAY PRACTICE PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Head Coach Nikki Caldwell
Opening Statement:
“Obviously we are glad we are still here. I thought Montana did an exceptional job yesterday of really pushing this team down to the wire. Tomorrow is going to be a great atmosphere. It’s going to be an atmosphere that is going to be in Gonzaga’s favor but it’s one that really shows the passion for women’s basketball. You look at crowds across the country and where people are getting 7,000-8,000 people in the stands to watch women’s basketball and that can only be a plus. But we’re excited about playing a very, very good basketball team but most importantly I’m excited for this team to have another opportunity to advance.”
On the UCLA fans in Spokane:
“We got some blue scattered. We don’t have a lot. We understand the crowd is in their favor but I told this team that is what March Madness is about. In the Pac-10 tournament, Arizona State drew well against us, Cal drew well against us, Stanford has drawn well against us. We have come into environments where they have more fans but I told the team fans don’t sweat, don’t rebound the basketball nor do the fans make plays. It’s going to come down to who is going to execute their game plan to the best of their ability. If we commit to that and your in that competitive zone, you don’t hear fans out there on the floor. Half of the time you don’t hear me. For us it’s about playing this game for 40 minutes and 10,000 fans should not alter how we play throughout this season and that has helped us win on the road.”
On UCLA’s press and how it could slow down Gonzaga and Courtney Vandersloot:
“They are one of the best running teams we have seen in a long time. When we look at what (Courtney) Vandersloot is able to do with the basketball and what I mean run. There are a lot of people who run the ball but (Gonzaga) are very efficient running the basketball so we got to make sure defensively we are able to set our pressure so we can make baskets. But when you play a team that has a point guard that not only can score the basketball but get other people great looks. It’s going to be able to wear down her play and not allow her to go to distance. We want to continue to keep fresh bodies on her because she is so potent with the basketball and it may come down to the last two minutes of the game but I don’t want to give any team any freedom to have a full 30 or give them the freedom to run the ball at us without pickup because that is not our philosophy so we got to true to that and try to make her work. We do rely so heavily on our defensive pressure. That’s who we are.”
“If you cancel out your mistakes when it comes to Vandersloot I think you’ll be more successful in that regard. She will make you pay if you don’t.”
On the defensive style:
“Typically it’s whatever they feel at that time. Sometimes our team takes on this very aggressive personality where they want to get after you and trap you on the first pass. Sometimes they don’t but I like what I call ‘organize chaos.’ As long as we are not confused, I don’t care.”
“When they are in the mood to trap, they’re good. There are times when they are not in the mood and we move to our delay defense.”
On Gonzaga’s Kayla Standish:
“We got to know where she is at all times. When she catches the ball in her range and its going up, it’s pretty much going in. She’s dead on and skilled. You always talk about having a ‘Batman, Robin and Batgirl,’ they got all three. We got to make sure we don’t forget the other supporting cast of (Courtney) Vandersloot because they are on the receiving end of her passing. They are also great playmakers. But this team understands having played Stanford, they got Jeanette Pohlen, Kayla Pedersen and Nnemkadi Ogwumike. You can’t focus on one player. You got to know where everybody is on the court.”
On UCLA’s offense:
“We got to make shots. We can’t have Darxia Morris not make shots for us. We can’t have Jasmine Dixon pick the second half to try and score the basketball. (Markel) Walker can’t take two shots and go 2-for-2. They realize our defense is our bread and butter as to what we go to and rely on but at the end of the day we got to reward ourselves and score the basketball.”
On Darxia Morris and Jasmine Dixon leading the offense:
“I hope (Morris) responds, being a senior, and I hope Dixon responds because those two have been our ‘Batman and Robin.’ If any two ‘Batman and Robins’ struggle, any team in the country, you are going to have an ugly basketball game. That is what we had the other day. Hopefully they will have the mindset and maturity to come back and really show they can play both ends of the floor.”
On any similarity between Notre Dame and Gonzaga:
“We talk about players and certain players they have played throughout the season to let them know you are prepared for this game. This game isn’t going to be what we do today. That’s not our preparation. Our preparation today is to get more shots up and make some tomorrow.”
“Their preparation came in the off-season for this game and their preparation came through their non-conference schedule and their conference play. They played some really great players in the women’s game and (Courtney) Vandersloot is one of those type of players you can put in that category. For them it’s a matter of what was our defensive scheme and make sure we understand this player can score and distribute.”
On the point difference:
“I don’t think there is a tilt. Obviously we have defensive goals. We want to shut down certain action. We have three defensive goals, our transition game, our half court game and our board play. Each team is different. What we are looking at is where are we breaking down, who is breaking us down.”
“There is not a magic number that I look at to score. You can tell when this team is committed and made great plays on us.”
On what she has learned from her past:
“Playing for (Tennessee head coach) Pat Summitt she had a heavy hand. I think you learn your team. My first year here we had more hands on. We had to take on more of the leadership role from the bench and as they grew together you now relinquish that. When I first got here we had to literally walk hand-in-hand with our team and then the second year we walked side-by-side with our team and then now we are able to stand a few steps back and just watch them grow as a unit and take their own identity. I wanted them to be their style, not my feel, because they were building something and they are building something. It’s very good to see right now we are not having to hold hands with our team.”
Senior Guard Doreena Campbell
On UCLA’s defense-oriented style versus Gonzaga’s offense-oriented and the match-up tomorrow:
“It should be interesting. I think with the offense and defense, maybe the two will cancel each other out. We’ll see, though.”
On matching up with Courtney Vandersloot:
“She’s a very good guard. She’s able to score well and we’re going to be focusing on that. We’re mostly doing more of a zone, so it will be more of a defense-by-committee. Hopefully that will help, too. Like Jas (Jasmine Dixon) said earlier, limiting their touches is the main key.”
On UCLA’s position as the higher seed:
“I think going into the tournament, seed is not necessarily important. I think it’s who wants it more and who’s going to fight for it more. I think even with their fans as a big focus of a lot of people. But in the end, I think we need to just focus on what’s going on [on] the court and what’s going on with our team.”
On Courtney Vandersloot’s skill set compared with other point guards the team has faced:
“We played some teams like Notre Dame with [Guard Skylar] Diggins and Arizona State, which are more guard-oriented teams, so we’ll have to adjust more toward the guards. But she’s a good player and I think it will come down to who wins the game.”
Junior Forward Jasmine Dixon
On UCLA’s defense-oriented style versus Gonzaga’s offense-oriented and the match-up tomorrow:
“Doreena (Campbell) pretty much said it all, defensive team, offensive team. Hopefully we’re able to limit their touches and scoring opportunities, suffocate defense, and ride that out.”
On the crowd:
“I wouldn’t say that’s going to smear our play. We’ve been in a lot of hostile environments, such as Notre Dame and Stanford where we’ve had 11 UCLA fans versus their thousands of fans. We’re going to take our time and do what we know we’re capable of doing, playing UCLA basketball, and go from there.”
“I would say it’s not the fans they’re playing, so they’re not going to make a difference. It’s the 5-on-5 match-up that’s going to win or lose the game. Not necessarily the 5-on-5, but UCLA versus Gonzaga. We’re not going to let them distract us.”
NO. 3 SEED UCLA BRUINS LOCKER ROOM QUOTES
Sophomore Forward Markel Walker
On the contrasting style of play between UCLA and Gonzaga:
“I think that it’s going to come down to defense. The game is going to be a good challenge for us. They’re a good offensive team and balanced all over. I think it’s going to be a huge challenge, and playing in their house, we have to come out focused and ready to accept their challenge, basically.”
On Gonzaga’s home court advantage and the energetic crowd:
“I think that our pre-season schedule helped us. We played at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is pretty much a high quality basketball program. I think that playing on the road, Stanford, teams like that, helped us prepare for this moment. I think it’s just us staying focused and sticking to our game plan.”
On the match up against Gonzaga’s leading scorers, Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla Standish:
“They’re very good offensive players, so hopefully, we can just try to make someone else score. Don’t let them be the main, dominant players on the team. Make the rest of the team beat us.”
On the team’s post-season goals:
“I think it’s every day, putting in everything we have. If we win or lose, just knowing that we gave it our all when we stepped out on the court, that’s all that our coaching staff asks for us. We want to go as far as we can [in the Tournament], just knowing that we gave it 100%.”
On being one game away from the Sweet 16:
“We’re very excited. Of course my team will plan on going further. We want to go further, just to get to that moment is a big accomplishment. I think that playing a top competitor such as Gonzaga will help us get confidence and help us gain sureness that we can do something in the Tournament.”
On being seeded in the Spokane Region:
“We have to take it how we can get it. I think that [being seeded in Spokane] Washington is good enough for the most part. We are just trying to be prepared and take anything that comes.”
Senior Guard Darxia Morris
On what they’re focusing on for Monday’s game:
“We’re focusing on executing our defense and making less mistakes than we did last game (vs. Montana). We’re working at trapping and knowing the shooters and knowing who the best player is on the floor and just being aware.”
On the contrasting style of play and how they are preparing for that:
“We did a good job pressing it and trapping it and giving the other team turnovers yesterday. But basically running back in transition on defense and rebounding. That’s a key thing Coach Caldwell says, defensive rebounding. If we execute our defense we will win the game.
On anticipating the performance of Kayla Standish:
“Basically they got a ‘Batman,’ they got a ‘Robin’ and they got a ‘Batgirl’ on the team. They’re good players but we need to focus on executing our defense. We’re not changing anything in our system because of what they can do. We’ll just stay in our system and execute our defense right.”
Gonzaga Sunday Press Conference quotes
Courtesy of Gonzaga Athletics
NO. 11 SEED GONZAGA BULLDOGS SUNDAY PRACTICE PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Head Coach Kelly Graves
Opening Statement:
“We’re obviously excited to be back playing another day. I know I’m still a little horse, I know they are still a little bit sore. We had several players who played several minutes and I know they are a little bit tired but we’ll get re-fired up and start working on UCLA at practice.”
“UCLA is a very good basketball team. The more I watched them the most impressed I’ve been, strong, physical, aggressive, very, very good defensively and they are great rebounders. As I look at them I said at some you want to turn the tape off because they are very impressive. But we’re looking forward to that game tomorrow.”
On if any team Gonzaga has played, pressure like UCLA:
“Well in our conference (West Coast) Pepperdine is the team who likes to pressure a lot. They force a lot of turnovers and have a good turnover margin. Even though they are not a tall team, they are big and strong. They have good length out on the guard line so they are a little bit different but we have seen that style a couple of times this year.”
“Notre Dame picked us up a little bit in the full court when we played them but that was really about it. So we haven’t a lot of experience against that kind of pressure.”
On the contrast and styles:
“It goes to show you there are different ways to win basketball games and run a successful program. They’re tremendous. They have the kind of athletes and with certain skill sets that are a little bit more prone toward great defense, physical play. We are not blessed with a ton of size with those big type of players that can eat up space inside. We’re built on speed and we have a good point guard.”
“We try to make it full court game because that takes advantage of our strength. It’s one of those it’s going to be interesting to see.”
“They can run. They choose not to all the time but they actually can transition very well. But I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of style wins out tomorrow because I think whoever gets their tempo going has a chance of winning.”
On simulating to UCLA’s pressure:
“We can’t really. At this point, it’s not like it’s going to magically work on those kind of things and do something a little different than we typically do. We’ll dry run the best we can.”
“The reality at this point is we got to make sure we have good spacing and we get the ball into the hands of people who can make plays. You got to take care of the ball. I think you can sum it up in a couple different ways. If you take care of the basketball and don’t allow them to get those runouts and transition buckets off steals and make them play half court then that benefits us. If we can get stops obvious get stops, get the ball out and go, that benefits us.”
On the importance of Courtney Vandersloot taking care of the basketball:
“As a coach it’s very comforting knowing that the ball is in her hands and will be for a good majority of the game. She’s got to make great decisions, there’s no question about it, and our team has to be active. What I saw yesterday from Montana they were pretty stationary in trying to beat that pressure and you can’t be.”
“We got to look vertical and diagonal. We got to do a lot of different things to give them different looks. Fortunately, we have skilled players who can pass, catch and make plays in the open court. I think that will be a benefit for us. The bottom line is it’s going to come down to Courtney and how well she can handle that kind of pressure.”
On if UCLA is trying to force turnovers or trying to slow teams down:
“It’s a little of both. They are not a ‘in your face’ kind of defense as far as guarding the inbounder and trapping the first pass. They let you come to them and they wait for you to make a mistake.”
“They really work well together but I do agree some of it is tempo based. They want you to use some time in the back court and that way you don’t have as much time against that zone.”
On the rebounds in the two games Saturday:
“Montana did a really good job of packing it in and beating them from the outside. They did a good job of blocking it out. Montana is a long team if you look at them top to bottom they have a lot of long kids there. It takes effort. We’ll have to give great effort on boards. I think that is one of the two or three keys to the game tomorrow.”
On the attendance:
“The crowd is important and we do feed off it. I think everybody does and that is natural but the bottom line it’s 40 minutes between our team and their team on the court.”
“When I first started here about 11 years now it was mom, dad, some roommates, a couple of people who wander into the gym not knowing there was actually a game there. Anytime you see crowds like this there’s a lot of factors involved. Number one we got better and we’ve continued to improve and with each year we’ve got a bigger and bigger audience. Secondly we kind of play a style that is condusive to people wanting to come out and watch. It’s a fun brand of basketball. Yesterday was as good a college basketball game as may have been played on the women’s side this season.”
“Thirdly, our adminstration has made a commitment to women’s basketball here. They realize it can be a revenue sport. They backed it, they pushed, they’ve marketed, you’ll see commercials all the time about the season ticket pushes. I think it’s all encompassing. People come because they want to support a winner but you also have to back that and the university does. I am grateful for that and I know our team is as well.”
On Courtney Vandersloot’s comparison between this tournament and the previous:
“A little more determined, stronger, experienced. I think we all fall down and have to learn from it to get back up. She’s that kind of competitor. She’s going to have to do it for at least one more game. I know UCLA has a game plan for her and they are going to come after her.”
On whether staying at hotel or staying at home:
“We thought about it but not very long. I think it’s a benefit to stay in your bed anytime. I am going to encourage them to go to class like I do every day. They should do that.”
On playing a close level of competition:
“I think anytime you win close games like that it gives you confidence, no question about it.”
On Katelan Redmon:
“She had pretty looks. I don’t think she completely squared up on some of her shots. That’s when she struggles a bit. That’s kind of how we are this year. She might have an off game but you might have two players who step up and we had role players that did as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if she came out and played a good game. That’s how she is.”
On Courtney Vandersloot’s 2,000 point record:
“I’m not sure how many people know about that. I guarantee you Courtney is not going to be counting it down in her head. She want one thing and those who know Courtney know there is only one goal for her tomorrow and that is to win the game. If she goes scoreless she would be fine with that as long as we win.”
“We’re obviously pulling for her. Anytime you can say the ‘only ever,’ those are two pretty good words. But that is not our focus and not hers I guarantee you.”
Senior Guard Courtney Vandersloot
On the crowd’s energy:
“It’s a great environment to play any game, whether it be a regular (season) game or an NCAA game. I think that’s what helped us get through the end, like Coach Graves said we played a lot of minutes and our adrenaline was pumping. It was an exciting environment for anybody, I would say.”
On the players’ perception of their home-court advantage:
“It’s just another home game for us. We’re excited to be here. Our crowd obviously gives us energy but when it comes down to it, it’s the NCAA Tournament and it’s just another game.”
On UCLA’s press:
“Just like any press, you want to attack it. They’re big and you definitely don’t want to pick up your dribble because you’re going to be surrounded by big players. When it comes down to it, you’ve got to be smart and take care of the ball.”
On her experience in the off-season after facing some physical guards in the NCAA and how she expects this time to be different than this time last year:
“Not really much different. I think that just like I saw last year, they’re definitely physical and strong and that’s why I worked so hard in the off-season so I wouldn’t struggle with it so much. I’m prepared for it. I’m ready for it.”
Junior Guard/Forward Katelan Redmon
On the players’ perception of their home-court advantage:
“It’s just another game. You’ve got to go out and play it. It’s nice having our home crowd there, but it’s just another game – you’ve got to go out and play hard.”
On UCLA’s tempo:
“The key to it is that we’ve got to get our tempo going. We can’t allow them to slow down the pace of the game, so we’re going to have to make sure we’re getting the rebounds and getting the fast breaks going.”
On whether or not she played against UCLA during her time at Washington and her memories of playing against them:
“Yeah, I did play against them. To be honest, I don’t really remember them a whole lot. It was about four years ago, so they’re definitely a different team now than then. They’re a very strong defensive team, so we’re going to have to come out and play really hard.”
On her plans for tomorrow (Monday, March 21)
“I will be going to my morning classes.”
