SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time in my year and a half with The Daily Emerald, I had the opportunity to cover a game away from campus. The Bay Area Women’s Classic featured four former Pac-12 teams: Cal, USC, Stanford and Oregon.

The games were played at Chase Center in San Francisco, the home of the Golden State Warriors of the NBA and Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA.

My day began at 4:30 a.m. in Eugene after a short night following the Ducks’ College Football Playoff game against James Madison University. After a quick one-hour flight, I returned home across the bay in Oakland for a couple hours before turning back around.

I used the underground rapid transit system known as BART to get into the city. It is the most common form of transportation for traveling between San Francisco and the East Bay.

The train was on time, but once I got off, I faced my first delay. For Warriors games and concerts, Chase Center has an Arena Express bus that runs straight from the BART station to the arena. For this tournament, it did not. I took the regular city bus that stopped numerous times along the way and took nearly five minutes to travel one block.

When I finally arrived, the magic began. I had been to Chase Center many times since it opened in 2019, but I’d never noticed the “Media & Team Member Entrance,” where I found myself standing in line with over a dozen other reporters.

Security let us in one at a time, and after about 10 minutes of waiting, it was my turn. After being screened and receiving my credential, I walked down the hall and around the corner where I could see the court at the end of the tunnel. I could only imagine all the NBA stars who walked through that hallway several times a season.

At every corner was a security guard more than happy to help reporters like us find our way around. I told them I was looking for the press box. They directed me to the elevator, where another guard took me to the main concourse and told me which portal to go to.

When I got there, I found a list on the wall that outlined who could sit where. There were about 10 rows that were simply “Reserved for Media” without any specific organization listed. I took a seat as close to the front as I could, right next to KWVA. The view wasn’t much of an improvement over Matthew Knight Arena. We were seated behind one of the baskets and there appeared to be a court length worth of rows between us and the baseline.

My next quest was finding a quiet place to record the pregame video. If you’ve ever been to a sports venue, you know there’s not much in the way of “quiet.” I wandered halfway around the concourse and stumbled upon a staircase. At the bottom was another concourse. It still wasn’t quiet enough for a video, but straight ahead were three doors and a sign that read, “EXIT.” On the other side was an empty stairwell, perfect for my video. 

The only slight inconvenience was since that stairwell’s sole purpose was for exiting Chase Center, the door locked automatically. I recorded my video with one foot planted in the doorway before returning to the press box 10 minutes before tipoff.

Once the game started, I had no technical problems. Writing my recap went as smoothly as it ever could. The crowd favored Stanford, as we were less than an hour from its campus, but there were still enough Ducks fans to make noise at the right time as Oregon battled all the way through.

At halftime, a group of staff members came by to check if we needed anything. It was a pleasant surprise, but I had no time to stall. I was on my way back around the concourse and down the stairs to record my halftime video. I got back to the press box about two minutes before the third quarter began.

When the game ended, I squeezed my way through the crowd to the elevator and told the guard I was looking for the press conference. He took me down to the level where I had entered and the conference room was right there. I stood outside to record my postgame video and walked in at the same time as Oregon head coach Kelly Graves.

This was my first time covering Oregon women’s basketball in a loss. Graves was in much higher spirits than many other coaches I’ve seen after losing. Once he left, Stanford’s coach came in along with two players. I’d never been to an opposing team’s press conference, which felt very awkward the first time.

They expressed gratitude to the Warriors and the opportunity to play in the tournament and discussed how they could have been better even though they got the result they wanted.

After the press conference, the other reporters left to watch Cal and USC. I stayed in that empty room for the next 20 minutes finishing up my recap. When I was about ready to leave, one of the staff members came in to check on me. I’d never felt so important at a sporting event.

Upon leaving Chase Center, I learned BART had been shut down. Having been up for 13 hours, I spent the next hour walking through San Francisco in the dark before BART reopened. I got home three hours after the game ended.

It was not an easy day, but it was still a worthwhile experience. Going in, I knew I would be living like an athlete pulling a back-to-back like that. It’s clear this team is cooking something special this year, even if they couldn’t quite pull it out against Stanford. Seeing them in my hometown while exploring the hidden spots of Chase Center was well worth it.