Lindsay Gottlieb is returning to Cal. Joanne Boyle’s former lead assistant has been named her successor and will be introduced today at a press conference in Berkeley.

Gottlieb made a few minutes for Leftcoasthoops.com as she drove from the airport in San Francisco to Haas Pavilion.

Q: What’s the day been like for you so far?

A: I’m making phone calls in the car. I’ve been on the phone all morning with incoming recruits and current players. Today is going to be a total whirlwind.

Q: Are you surprised at how this all turned out?

A: I am really legitimately surprised. In this professional, you know things happen and they can happen quickly. When I took the job at Santa Barbara, I thought it was a place that I would be at for a long time. I was fortunate to get a job like that and you are in the present and you enjoy where you are. And that’s where my mindset was. Honestly, each year I’ve gotten a call or two. And I’ve been able to sincerely say ‘I’m flattered, and thanks but no thanks.”

Q: But Cal was a different situation?

A: Cal has always been a special place for me and I thought, maybe in the back of my mind, ‘Someday’. Joanne and I talked as soon as Virginia contacted her. And I wanted to be her friend and talk her through her decision, but I started thinking, ‘Wow, this could affect me.”

Q: How is the Cal program different than when you left?

A: When we arrived at Cal six years ago, the program had experienced a lot of losing seasons in a row and we were changing a culture. We had a group of veterans who had been there, and this group of precocious incoming freshmen who were used to winning. We came in setting a mentality and changing a culture. Now I feel like I’m walking into a program of national prominence that is at a moment in time…where hopefully we will springboard to something better. This is not about rebuilding. This is about taking this group and believing in them and me and each other.

Q: How familiar are you with the players in the program?

A: I certainly wasn’t studying my media guide on the way up. To some degree or another, I was involved with recruiting them, especially the current sophomores. I was involved in their recruitment and some of them, I tried to recruit to UCSB. But I don’t have a connection with them. I think that’s going to allow me to come in and bring a burst of energy. I think that’s going to be a good thing.

Q: Do you feel like you have to come in and stabilize the program?

A: Anytime there’s change or uncertainty, there’s a state of flux. But the one thing I’ve heard over and over, thanks to Sandy (Barbour) and Theresa (Kuehn), is what a good job they’ve done keeping everybody together and in the same direction. I think this is a group that is together and excited to move forward and I can come in and form relationships with them and make them believe in me.

I don’t think I have to stabilize anything. I feel more like I have to corral everybody, get everybody moving into the same direction. Priority No. 1 will be forming that bond and belief. This program should not have to take three steps back to move forward.

Sorry I’ve been away for a bit. Trying to settle in after whirlwind of NCAA Touranment and WNBA and new gig as a regular contributor for espnW.

Here’s the link to the story on the Cal website on Gottlieb’s hiring. Press conference tomorrow at 3.

I’ll be there.

http://www.calbears.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/042511aaa.html

Correction: Casey Morris plays at Texas Tech. Clearly have typed Texas A&M too many times in the past week.

Joanne Boyle has accepted the head coaching job at the University of Virginia, leaving Cal after six seasons marked by the renewal of a program and a number of painful setbacks.

Cal coach Joanne Boyle - Don Anderson file phot

Boyle leaves Cal with a 137-64 record. She led the Bears for four straight NCAA appearances and the WNIT in the last two seasons, including the WNIT title in 2010. Boyle leaves having had the most successful coaching tenure in the history of the Cal’s women’s program.

Boyle came to Cal from Richmond in 2005, replacing Caren Horstmeyer. She inherited a stellar recruiting class that including five local stars – Oakland Tech’s Devanei Hampton and Alexis Gray-Lawson, Modesto’s Ashley Walker, Berkeley’s Shantrell Sneed and San Francisco’s Jene’ Morris.

From there, her tenure was a contrast of high and low moments.

The highs:

• 2006 – Boyle led the Bears to a winning record in her first season (18-12), and the program’s first NCAA appearance in 13 seasons. Cal fell in the first round to St. John’s.
• 2006-07 – Boyle named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Hampton named Pac-10 Player of the Year.
• 2007 – Boyle turned down the opportunity to take over the Duke program after her second year at Cal, choosing to stay in Berkeley.
• 2007-08. The Bears set a school record for wins (27-7) and Pac-10 wins (15).
• 2008-2009 – With Walker and Hampton leading the way, Cal finishes a strong second to Stanford in the Pac-10, defeating the Final Four-bound Cardinal at Maples. That game remains Stanford’s last loss to a Pac-10 opponent. The Bears earn the highest national ranking in school history, spending four weeks at No. 3 and reached the Sweet 16, falling to No. 1 seed Connecticut.
• 2009 – Boyle brings in the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class.
• 2010 – Starting a lineup that includes four freshman and fifth-year senior Lawson, Cal fails to make the NCAA field, but makes a long run to the WNIT Tournament title.

The lows:

• 2006 – Jene’ Morris transfers after the Boyle’s first season in Berkeley, ends up at San Diego State, leading the Aztecs to the Sweet 16 in her senior season and is now playing in the WNBA.
• 2007 – Lenita Sanford, the Bears top incoming recruit, does not meet NCAA requirements and is unable to play for the Bears. She ends up at junior college in Texas.
• 2008 – Shawn Lei Kuehu, the Bears top recruit, decides she does not want to come to Cal and chooses to stay home, playing at the University of Hawaii.
• 2009 – Three players – Casey Morris, Kelsey Adrian and Angelei Aguirre transfer after the 2008-09 season. Morris is a starter at Texas Tech. Adrian and Aguirre both ended up at UC Santa Barbara, coached by former Boyle lead assistant Lindsey Gottlieb.
• 2009- Tierra Rodgers, the top recruit in a strong recruiting class, collapses following practice and is diagnosed with a heart condition that ends her career.
• 2010-2011 – The Bears struggled to a 18-16 record this past season and a sixth-place finish in the Pac-10 at 7-11, the lowest finish in Boyle’s tenure.
• 2011 – Leading scorer DeNesha Stallworth announces that she is transferring.

Wrapping this season up with a bow and saying thank you to everybody for all of your support.

Special thanks to Deb Gumbley, who provided me with photos, a bottle of wine and kind words whenever I needed them.

More news to come in the next few days, no doubt.

Stanford. If the Cardinal are still feeling, four days later, like they missed their opportunity to win a national title, they’re entitled to that. It certainly feels that way.

Hard truths: Texas A&M was a bad matchup for Stanford and the Cardinal did not play nearly as well as they needed to.

Excessive turnovers, foul trouble, top players who didn’t contribute as much to the cause as they needed to …all true, and yet Stanford lost by one point to a talented, motivated Aggies team that went on to win it all.

It was tough to watch Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen come away without at least the opportunity to play for the title.

Mel Murphy’s strong finish in her final game was a silver-lining.

Cal. Thursday’s breaking news. A local TV station in Virginia reports that the deal is done and Boyle is the Cavaliers’ new head coach.

http://www.newsplex.com/sports/headlines/Boyle_Next_Cavalier_Head_Coach_119288409.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The news that DeNesha Stallworth left was the first blow. Then the rumors that Boyle was leaving for the job in Virginia. Boyle’s statement from the Monday night that said “I am not the Virginia coach” sure looked like semantics.

This past season was rough for Boyle and the Bears. She could not push the right buttons to get a young, but experienced team to play at another level. She admitted that. She also publicly questioned their work ethic and their heart and probably didn’t win points with her players or athletic director Sandy Barbour.

Is that enough of a reason to leave? Or is it merely time?

Successors? Temple’s Tonya Cardoza is on the wish list of Cal fans.

UCLA. Nikki Caldwell left for LSU and the lure of an SEC job and a huge paycheck. Who takes that job? So far, it’s pretty quiet in Westwood. Even the UCLA message boards are quiet.

Washington. Kevin McGuff comes in as the fourth straight male coach hired in the Pac-10 in the last three seasons. First it was Michael Cooper, then Paul Westhead at Oregon and Scott Rueck at Oregon State.

McGuff appears to have gotten out of Xavier along with his two top players before the rebuilding began. He certainly has a rebuilding job to do in Seattle. But McGuff is a good recruiter and he’ll bring a new energy to the Huskies program.

USC. The Women of Troy were good enough to be in the NCAA Tournament field. Their run to the WNIT Final proved that. But they didn’t play well enough down the stretch and that is the problem – again – that coach Michael Cooper needs to address.

Is Notre Dame-Texas A&M good for women’s basketball?

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6291412/questions-questions-indianapolis

Tara VanDerveer’s Hall of Fame enshrinement – espnW.com

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6290366/tara-vanderveer-honored-tough-morning

Tara on Pac-10.org

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/223803/vanderveer-humbled-and-honored-to-be-in-naismith-hall-of-fame.aspx

And my girl Ann Killion on csnbayarea.com

http://www.csnbayarea.com/04/04/11/bKillionb-VanDerveers-only-regrets-are-f/landing_killion.html?blockID=497131&feedID=5878

Done with Disneyland. Boarding a red-eye at LAX. Indy in the morning!

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6277475/experienced-point-guards-pay-dividends-final-four-teams

Experienced point guards are the way to go this year: espnW

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6280539/final-four-coaches-players-learn-mesh-well

Stanford seniors and their fourth Final Four: Pac-10.org

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/223598/cardinal-seniors-enjoy-fourth-final-four.aspx

Stanford-Texas A&M matchup story: gostanford.com

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/stan-w-baskbl-body.html

Story recap courtesy of USC sports information director Darcy Couch

TOLEDO, OHIO – The USC women’s basketball team came up against a powerful crowd and a determined Toledo team in the 2011 WNIT Championship game. With a sellout crowd behind them, the host Rockets got out ahead of the Trojans in the second half and went on to claim the title with a 76-68 win over USC on Saturday at Savage Arena. Playing in their first postseason tournament championship game since the NCAA final in 1986, the Women of Troy finish the season with a 24-13 overall record

On the road for the fifth straight game in the tournament, USC found itself in a familiar spot at halftime, trailing its opponent at the break as had occurred in three other WNIT games. But Toledo had a loud crowd of 7,301 behind it as the Rockets were able to boost themselves ahead and hold off the Trojans’ comeback attempts in the final minute. More than half of Toledo’s offense was provided by Naama Shafir, who finished with 40 points in the game, including 28 second-half points. Meanwhile, USC’s scoring was spread out with five different players hitting double digits. Briana Gilbreath, Jacki Gemelos and Cassie Harberts each had 14, with Ashley Corral hitting 12 on the way to tying the WNIT record of 22 threes made in the tournament, and Kari LaPlante finished with 10 points in the senior’s final game as a Trojan.

Toledo had help from that home crowd and hotter hands from the floor as the Rockets shot 48 percent to USC’s 34 percent in the first half. USC was trailing on the boards 25-19 at halftime, but picked up the pace in the second to finish even at 44-44 and lock in with a WNIT record defensive-rebounding effort in hauling in 181 defensive boards in the tourney. By the final buzzer, Toledo had shot 47 percent from the floor to lead USC’s 37 percent finish. The Trojans had closed to within four points twice within the final minute, but free throws kept the Rockets ahead in finishing up with the 76-68 championship victory over the Trojans.

The first half was high energy and see sawed through six lead changes. USC got ahead by seven thanks to a pair of threes from Briana Gilbreath, but the Rockets would make a 9-0 run later to move back ahead. The half stayed tight the rest of the way with whistles blowing against the Trojans and sending Toledo to the line. USC broke out of a 30-30 tie with a three-point play converted by Cassie Harberts to make it 30-27 USC with just under five minutes to go. USC would get just one field goal to fall the rest of the way as the Rockets spent more time at the line and worked ahead to a 35-32 halftime lead.

Toledo’s Naama Shafir accounted for 17 of the Rockets’ first 19 points of the second half as the Trojans pushed to get things under their control with a push ahead for a 44-42 lead on an Ashley Corral 3-pointer with 13:00 on the clock. But a 9-0 Toledo run purely at the hands of Shafir took the Rockets ahead 54-47 with 9 minutes remaining in regulation. USC’s largest deficit of the game came with 3 minutes to go as the Trojans fell behind 67-53 on a three from Melissa Goodall, and USC was forced to play catchup with time draining. Some free-throw misses by the Rockets helped the Trojans to cut in, with Gemelos scoring back-to-back buckets to make it a four-point game with 37 ticks to go. Shafir would be flawless from the line the rest of the way, however, getting to 40 points on the night and keeping a Trojan comeback from taking shape as the Rockets held on for a 76-68 victory.

USC junior guards Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath were named to the WNIT All-Tournament Team for their strong performances in the tourney.

With a detour in Disneyland with the middle school band!

Mel Murphy closing her Stanford career.

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/033111aab.html

Stanford seniors want to write a different ending at espnW

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6270560/stanford-cardinal-seniors-mission