Post-Game Q&A With Shantrell Sneed, Lauren Greif and Natasha Vital

During the open locker room period following the victory over Virginia, I had a chance to talk with senior Shantrell Sneed, juniors Lauren Greif and Natasha Vital about their thoughts on the game and setting Cal records.

CalBears.com: The first Sweet 16 appearance in California program history…what’s on your mind right now?
Lauren Greif: This is just exciting for the team. We had such high goals this year, and we get to keep going after them.
Natasha Vital: We’re excited. Especially to get over that hump of losing in the second round. We finally got there to the Sweet 16.
Shantrell Sneed: We’re still dancing for the first time in Cal history. We are just continuing to write our own history. We’re playing some of our best basketball at the perfect time.

CalBears.com: L.G, you had nine assists, which was a new career high. Were you aware of how many you were dishing out during the game?
LG: I was just trying to move the ball. We’ve been doing a lot better with ball movement. If someone had told me that I have nine, I would have passed to someone for a double-double.

CalBears.com: What was the key in stopping Virginia?
LG: Their transition. The first five plays of the game we didn’t do a good job of it. But then we really hunkered down.
NV: We had to stop their scorers. I think we did a pretty good job on No. 1 and No. 33. Monica Wright is a great player and she was really hard to guard.
SS: We were able to contain their big three players. They made their little run, but we came back and played great defense.

CalBears.com: What was the key for the Bears?
NV: Running our plays. Putting the ball in transition. Early in the game, we got a lot of give-me baskets. We moved the ball really well. We’ve been working on that in practice. We were also looking for the open man.
SS: Just staying poised and composed, and sharing the basketball. We found the open person. Despite them making a run, we never lost our poise or composure.
To see the Q&A on CalBears.com, click here.

Press Conference Quotes

California Coach Joanne Boyle

"I'm just excited to be here. Continuing to play it is what this time is all about -- survive and advance and I thought we did a good job of that last night and I'm just excited to play Virginia."

On breaking down Virginia's team

"Virginia is a great team. There are things they do very well. They are a great transition team. They have a great three in (Lyndra) Littles, (Aisha) Mohammed and (Monica) Wright. They get a lot of touches. They thrive and really push the ball in transition and get easy baskets and do a lot from rebounding."

"We need to take away transition, stay on the boards and don't let them on the free throw line."

On approaching the next game

"We've done a lot of game-planning of course. We're trying to keep our kids in their comfort zone and tweaking things here and there. It's more about the comfort now. And we're doing a lot of film."

"You just can't turn the ball over against a team like this because you won't have a chance to play transition defense because it will be a layup."

California forward/center Ashley Walker

On coming back for second round

"It's just another game. We are staying in our comfort zone. It's great playing in the Galen Center again. We're just exciting to play another game."

On trying to make Sweet Sixteen

"I definitely think last year motivates us. It's definitely one of our goals. It's my last time. We (the rest of the seniors) all have that feeling. We can't waste a possession. Every night we're trying to do that. We're excited to play and when they put the ball out there it's tournament time. No ones going to give it to you. You have to fight for it."

California guard Lauren Greif

On improved play over the last week

"We watched a lot of film on our ball movement how it has gotten kind of stagnant in the last couple of weeks. So we just really focused on moving the ball and watched more film."

"The faster the ball moves the harder it is for defenses to find us."

California guard Alexis Gray-Lawson

On advancing in the tournament

"Just to know that this could have been our last practice or this could be our last game, it makes you want to play that much harder so that you can get one more practice or get one more game."

"I think it makes us hungry. (There is) definitely more desire in our hearts to go out there and not just win for ourselves, but to win for our seniors and our community."

Pre-Game News Clippings

The California women’s basketball team is in the sports headlines often, and we’ve “clipped” some of them for you. Here are some of the stories about the Golden Bears before today’s game.

San Francisco Chronicle: Big Bears' final chance to make a lasting impression

Bay Area News Group: Cal women aim to improve play

San Francisco Chronicle: Cal's Greif is no stranger to leadership

Los Angeles Times: Cal women to play Fresno State in NCAA's first round

Associated Press: Players perspectives across women's basketball (Lauren Greif blog entry that was picked up by AP)

Photo Update: Pictures From the Road

Our team photographer, Mollie McClure, has provided us with some great shots from the trip to Los Angeles.

Freshman guard Casey Morris waits at the Oakland Airport to board the flight to Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.

Junior guard Lauren Greif listens to some music on the bus ride from Los Angeles airport to the team hotel on Thursday evening.

Freshman guard Angelei Aguirre shares a laugh on the team bus.

Senior forward Shantrell Sneed catches up with someone on the phone during the bus ride to the hotel on Thursday evening.

Junior forward/center Rama N’diaye smiles for the camera.

All photos courtesy Mollie McClure of McClure Photography.