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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2016Niya ButtsLaBrittney JonesBreanna WorkmanSeattle, Washington Arizona - 74, Oregon - 68 THE MODERATOR: We want to say congratulations to Coach Niya Butts, Jacinta Vandenberg, and Lexi Peterson. Coach, I'll let you open and we'll take questions. NIYA BUTTS: First of all, thank you guys for sticking around to talk to me, anyway. It was an exciting game and we're proud of our group, our team as a whole. But especially proud of the two young ladies to my right. Stepped up and made really big plays for us. The idea in March is to win the game in front of you and we took care of Oregon today. Great team, great coach, and we get an opportunity tomorrow to play against UCLA, and we're looking forward to the challenge. Q. Coach, you've won two in a row. What do you think has been working better for you guys that wasn't working from the losing streak forward? NIYA BUTTS: We're making some plays. Putting the ball in the hole a little bit better down the stretch, and we're defending the way we need to when you get in those crucial moments. When you have that, you have an opportunity to win. But the players, they stepped up and made plays. I mean, that's who's responsible for it and they've done a good job down the stretch, so I'm proud of them. Q. For LaBrittney and Breanna, how much did you guys want to win this one for Coach Butts? And how much did you guys talk about it amongst yourselves as players? BREANNA WORKMAN: Me personally, I know a lot of my other teammates wanted this a lot for her. She does a lot for us, and that's the best way to show our appreciation is to get this win today. LABRITTNEY JONES: I agree with Bree. We just talked about playing hard and giving it our all. We know it`s our coaching staff`s last time with us, and we just wanted to give it our all for them, and that's what we came out to do. Q. LaBrittney and Breanna, Oregon cut the deficit a couple times down there to 6 or 7. How do you attribute your ability to hold on to that lead in the closing moments? BREANNA WORKMAN: I think me, L.B., and Malena staying calm for the rest of our team, and not getting too frantic or worried about it. Staying calm and keep doing the things we need to do. Keep pushing at them and eventually they'll fold. LABRITTNEY JONES: I can say the last game at USC, the similar thing happened and that game we stayed poised. And today we were able to stay poised and I think that's how we got the win. Q. Coach Butts, what's this win mean to you knowing you at least have one more game to coach? NIYA BUTTS: One more game. That means you get to see my face for one more press conference, hopefully. You know, it means a lot. But every game means a lot to me. Obviously any time you're getting a win you're going to be excited about that, especially when you get -- it's postseason, so now you've got tournament play and you win, everybody knows that anything can happen in March. When we arrived at the arena the game ahead of us, it was a decent margin. We're getting ready to come back out, and all of a sudden it's tied and we go into overtime. Those are the types of things that can happen in March. So it lets you know that anything can happen, and I'm happy to be here for as long as I can. And I want to take this opportunity while I have a national audience to say to everybody at Arizona, from our fans to the AD, to the administration, those guys have been fantastic to me, and I am so grateful, extremely humbled and blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of something this special. I'll tell anybody that will listen to me, Arizona's a great place, and I am going to remember my time there with very fond memories. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Byrne and everything he does. He's a fantastic AD. And whoever is lucky enough to sit in his seat moving forward should really, really thank God for the opportunity because it's a special place. Q. Coach, what's it like coaching this specific group of Wildcats and what they've shown today in this win over Oregon? NIYA BUTTS: You know what? Perseverance and resiliency. We've had a tough season and a tough road. This group, they learned the news before we came on the road, and there is always a question how is your group going to respond? How are they going to handle it? Well, today they showed everybody how they were going to respond and how they were going to handle it, so I'm proud of them for that. It's not easy to have everybody kind of looking at you wondering should they say something to you, should they not. So they've done a really good job handling this like adults, and really getting the job done. Everybody has a job to do. I've said that since the day I arrived at Arizona, and everybody's responsible for what they're responsible for. You all have to take responsibility for what you do, and today they took responsibility. Went out there on the court and played the game regardless of what was going on around them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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