Yuku free message boards

But it was defense that inspired coach Mark French to break out the gold uniforms, which he had ordered earlier and waited for the right game -- no surprise it would be Riverside -- to break out.

"We got the gold jerseys, and he gave us a speech about how the last team that wore them went 30-4 (in 1999-00)," said freshman forward Ashlee Brown, who scored eight points. "And he said great defensive teams wear these jerseys and this is an important game, so step up.

"Everybody had that mentality. Everybody was excited to get the gold jerseys."

As French joked later, "Well it's just another hokey ploy on the coaching staff to try to get our emotion up a little bit."

French also had his team watch a tape of last year's conference tournament title game -- a 70-67 win by Riverside -- before the game.

"I obviously wasn't there, but watching it is just heart-wrenching," Brown said. "So we all knew what we had to do. I think everybody stepped up in every category."