Feb. 5, 2016 | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.

Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb

On the game:

“I've been here for a long time, and this was one of the best Battle of the Bay's that I've ever been a part of. Chen (Yue) worked really hard as part of the marketing team for this event, and I also want to shout out the entire Cal community for coming out like this and supporting us. We may not be No. 1 and No. 3 in the country (Cal and Stanford), but we have our own brand of basketball and an appreciation of basketball in the Bay Area that is really special. I hope the WNBA was watching, because there needs to be a team in the Bay Area. I credit Stanford for bringing out its fans, and bringing their energy. I thought our players played really hard, and in that sense, it was a great game. Shifting to our play, I'm feeling so many emotions—sad, angry, hopeful and also disappointed—this is the rollercoaster that this team has taken me on and that we're taking each other on. But there is a reason Stanford is where they are and that we (Cal) are where we are, and they are just a little better at the little things. I don't believe they have immensely more talent than us and I don't think there's huge gaps (in our play), but they know how to get it done and we don't yet. We will get there. I want us to be there by next week, I think the players do to, and I think the players and I have to stick together and get ourselves there. It was a good game, a lot of great things happened, but at the end of the day, the third quarter killed us. You can't have such a bad quarter against such a good team and expect to win a game.”

On Stanford's advantages:

“There is a way you prepare and a mentality you have over 30 games, and they have a consistency level that we don't have because of our youth. We've really gone up and down in games, and I may not be in their (Stanford) locker room, but they have this type of consistency that helps them win games they are supposed to win. They have lost some tough games, but they have beaten everyone they are supposed to beat, and for us that is where we have been inconsistent. In this particular game, when they were down, they came back at us and didn't change their demeanor. They made a concerted effort to rebound even more in the second half. They were tougher in the second half, they stuck to their game plan, and their players made shots when they needed to. When it's close, they are just a little further over that hump than we are. I think our potential to get there is astronomical, so maybe our ceiling is just really high and we've yet to reach it yet. It's my job to get us there, but it's evident in games like this, that we're almost, almost there. We've got to get there quicker. It seems like they're slightly further down the road with polish and experience. When we were 9-2 it didn't feel like, 'Oh gosh, how are we doing this with freshman and sophomores and a junior?' Now that we've hit hard things it's a little more exposed that we have growing to do and I'm not afraid to say that. I think they know it, and I think my honesty is good to point out when things are good and where we need to get to."

On Gabby's return:

"I think it's an emotional boost and I think it's a physical, literal boost. First, emotionally this is a very close tight-knit family and Gabby's presence is an emotional lift to everyone around her. And just from a basketball standpoint, she can do things that nobody else can do on our team. The vision she has, the passes she makes and her defensive length is incredible. I think that while everyone has made up and improved things in her absence, which makes us better, having her back just gives us another sort of offensive weapon in a way that's untraditional. It's not just points, but seeing the floor and angles that gives us another ball handler to put us back in positions, a little deeper on the bench, those kinds of things."