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PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2017Adia BarnesLaBrittney JonesMalena WashingtonSeattle, Washington Oregon - 70, Arizona - 63 THE MODERATOR: We welcome the University of Arizona Wildcats. Coach, I will have you make an opening statement, and then questions. ADIA BARNES: I'm just really proud of this team. This has been a great year for us just the way that they fought the entire year and showed heart and character and did everything I asked them the whole year. I'm really proud of this group. You know, five seniors, their last basketball tonight until they go play pro and do different things. But I thought it was a good fight. I thought we had opportunities to win tonight, but we just missed a couple shots town the stretch and didn't get shots we needed. But I thought the seniors really led this team the entire year. Q. Do you feel like you guys just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter? ADIA BARNES: Yeah, I think that we ran out of gas, and Ruthy made some really tough shots. Made some good plays over good defense, and then offensively I thought that some good shots we got in short corner after we moved the defense or drove around the rim, they kind of blocked some shots or altered some shots and they didn't go down the stretch. I think we got a little bit tired. We were in a short rotation which I felt we had to be tonight, and a little bit softer on balls, and that was just a little bit of fatigue. So that hurt us down the stretch. They were taking the momentum from us slowly. Q. LaBrittney, was there a moment in that fourth quarter where it felt like it kind of slipped away, or what was it like for you out there? LABRITTNEY JONES: I mean, just a little bit. They started to go on a run, and we didn't respond well to it and they made some shots. I don't know. I don't think it really killed us. I think we still fought the rest of the fourth quarter, but they made some shots and we didn't knock shots down. I think that's what happened. Q. Adia, I think you did a lot of stuff this year that surprised and impressed people. So what can you build on and what can your young kids take from this game and this season? ADIA BARNES: Well, I think that these five seniors have really helped us start to establish a really cool culture, and a culture of learning what it takes to win. Hard work, and learning that we have to do it collectively as a group, and this is for them. Not only on the court but off the court. So they've started that. And they've really stuck with me in asking everything that I've asked them to do. As far as the little things, as far as the culture and our mentality, and I thought that they started that. Now the young group, freshmen and sophomores, and Julia's going to be a senior next year, so they're going to kind of hold the torch. That's what I think they should be proud of. They've had, I think, a tough career. It wasn't exactly as planned, but I told them everything happens for a reason, and this year we got better. We got better off the court, we got better on the court. I think they started to enjoy basketball again. And it was fun to be a part of that. I'm just sad I didn't get them for longer. But for the future, I told them they have to come back around. They can't just disappear for years and go overseas and play, they have to come back and give back. Mentoring the young. We're just excited. I'm sorry I only had a year with them. It's really hard because they're great kids. I wanted this year to be special. I wanted to have these seniors go out feeling good about what we've accomplished. Not thinking, oh, you know, college sucked. I wanted them to feel this is great, we ended strong, we got better, because winning's fun. It's hard when you don't win. The I think we've started that here. It's just, it's a process, and they've been a part of the of the process, and they never complained. I asked a lot of them, and it was very different. To have a coaching change your senior year is very hard. They've been resilient. They've been totally receptive to everything, and that was a pleasure to be a part of, and it was a pleasure to go to them. Q. LaBrittney and Malena, what do you take away from your senior year, and what do you hope the younger players use to then build on as their careers keep going? LABRITTNEY JONES: From this year, I felt we grew as a team. Personally I think I got better this year. I worked on my game all summer, and I think I was able to see that transfer to the court this year. But as a team, I think we grew. We got a new coach, and we used what she wanted us to do and we did it. I feel like this is one of the best seasons I've had since I've been here. It's probably not saying a lot because we haven't had a good season, but, hey, it's one of the better seasons. As a player and as the group of seniors that we grew, so I think that's all we could ask for leaving out of Arizona. MALENA WASHINGTON: I think the most important thing is the growth, which Coach Barnes and LB has been talking about. Because since I've been here, we haven't been at the top of the pack, we've had rough times in games, and as a team, period, and we never gave up. We fought back. We stayed a family, and we just worked things out. So I would say just knowing things are going to get better. LABRITTNEY JONES: And for the younger people, I think they learned a lot this year. A lot of the younger players got a lot of experience, and I think they'll carry that over to next year when they bring in a new class with a lot of freshmen. I think that's going to be good for them to have the experience they got this year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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