This time last year, Cal head women's basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb was locked in on the Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball tournament. With her Golden Bears sitting squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Gottlieb spent the 10 days between Cal's exit from the Pac-12 Tournament and Selection Monday fixated on seemingly every mid-major game in the nation.

Conversations and text messages were filled with the latest bracketology projections, RPI and Strength of Schedule comparisons, and play-by-play from bubble-busting upsets brewing in other conferences.

"That week felt so long and was so all-consuming," Gottlieb said. "It was pretty indescribable, that day-to-day wait."

It was the third time Gottlieb had been on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but her first as a head coach and her first time on the bubble while seven-and-a-half-months pregnant.

"I remember thinking this was not a normal amount of stress, or nerves and emotions for a pregnant woman to be going through," laughed Gottlieb.

But the nerve-wracking build-up proved worth it when Cal was chosen to the 64-team field. The Bears went on to beat eight-seed LSU in the first round before falling to the region's top seed, Baylor.
 
Less than two months later, Gottlieb and her fiancé, Patrick, welcomed their son, Jordan, into the world. Jordan and Weston, assistant coach Kai Felton's son who was born less than a month later, have since become fixtures in Haas Pavilion, on road trips, and pretty much everywhere the team goes. The more talkative of the two babies, Weston can be found babbling with the players as they wait to watch film while Jordan, the early walker of the bunch, tries to follow along with the "big kids" and join in their stretches.

Gottlieb says watching her two worlds come to together seamlessly has been, "beyond rewarding".

"I have the absolute luxury and opportunity to integrate [Jordan] into my world," said Gottlieb. "I don't have to choose like most working mothers do and can bring him into our day-to-day. It's really enhanced how I'm able to do my job and creates a well-rounded atmosphere for everyone."

From sitting swaddled on their mothers' hips during summer workouts, to taking their first tentative crawls after bouncing balls and Gatorade cups, to now toddling up and down the sidelines during practice, the babies' growth has been easy to chart.
 
While not quite as evident, the growth of Gottlieb's 13 "other children" is the reason this wait for Selection Monday feels different than the previous year.

"It's been about consistency," said three-time All-Pac-12 selection Kristine Anigwe, "trying to be steady in how we play and approach every game. We didn't want to feel that same anxiety we had last year, where we didn't know if we would be in the tournament or not. After missing the postseason my freshman year, now we know what it's like to be there and what it takes to be successful. We've put in the work, have that extra edge, and just want to go as far as we can."

Be it freshmen adjusting to the pace and demands of the college game, or returning players embracing new roles and responsibilities, the Bears' maturation over the last twelve months has created a team with an increased emphasis on execution and resiliency.

Gottlieb challenged the squad from the start of the season, playing their second game of the year on the road at top-ranked Connecticut. Soon thereafter the Bears responded from a down-to-the-wire-loss to SEC-power Missouri by rattling off seven wins in a row. Even after a three-game skid during conference play, the Bears bounced back, winning five of their final six games during the regular season, including a Senior Day win over No. 14 Stanford.

"From a basketball standpoint, you don't often get growth marked by things that are publicly visible," said Gottlieb, "but I think this team did that with our win over Stanford. We had a rough trip to Oregon and when we got back, we really put our finger on some things that we needed to improve on the court and our players really embraced improving them. The growth on the court has been pretty evident and we're playing our best basketball at the right time of the year."

With a 21-10 record and the team's best finish in Pac-12 play in three years, it doesn't appear to any longer be a question of if Cal will make the NCAA Tournament, but who and where they will play.

"Knowing we'll be in the tournament and not on the bubble is a big differentiator," said Gottlieb. "Feeling like this team still has more to do is a big differentiator.  No matter what seed we're given, I know this team is coming in with a much better ability to handle whatever we might have to face."

On Monday afternoon, the Bears will learn their NCAA Tournament fate, but the apprehension that described last year's wait has been replaced with an air of excitement, inspired by the two youngest additions to the team.

"We've had so much fun this year," said senior Penina Davidson, primed to make her third trip to the NCAA Tournament. "We've bought in on the court and are just having fun. It's pretty hard not to smile when there's a baby around and having the two little ones around really does bring us together. It definitely shows how human we all are and makes you more connected to everyone in a lot of ways beyond just basketball."

One year after sitting anxiously on the bubble, Gottlieb – an admitted basketball junkie – still keeps up religiously with basketball across the country, checking scores while her players stretch and catching up on wild end-of-game finishes after practice. But the RPI updates have been replaced with photos of her young son, and she's more likely to be found chasing Jordan around the gym than refreshing projected first round pairings.

There's no question that her team will be in the NCAA Tournament and no question that the Bears will be ready to embrace the challenge ahead.

There is also no question that wherever Cal ends up, there will be two baby boys decked out in blue and gold, watching from the stands.

What a difference a year makes.