MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2022

Ryun Williams

McKenna Hofschild

Karly Murphy

Thomas & Mack Center

Colorado State Rams

Postgame Press Conference

UNLV - 75, Colorado State - 65

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.

RYUN WILLIAMS: Just congrats to UNLV. I mean, they are a, they're a championship team. They competed really tough and well tonight.

But I'm really proud of our basketball team, the way they fought. The way they competed, the way they went through this tournament, the way they grew up kind of right in front of our eyes, I couldn't be -- it was fun to coach 'em. It was a really fun four games and I'm proud to be their coach.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. I know there's a lot of disappoint in that locker room, but is it overshadowed a bit by the amount of pride that you guys have in the effort that you put into this tournament?

MCKENNA HOFSCHILD: Yeah. We're really happy with the way we performed. I think getting here is very impressive, so there's a lot to be proud of.

Q. There was one point when UNLV threatened to kind of blow this game open. When you guys came back, how much of it was you guys making adjustments and how much of it was just pure heart on your part?

KARLY MURPHY: Yeah. I feel like they got a little run in that third quarter, but we just had a lot of fight, a lot of heart to just not give up because we had nothing to lose. So I think that was a big key for us, just like going out there and giving it all we have and seeing what we could do.

Q. Being your last season how does it feel getting this far in the finals and what will you miss?

KARLY MURPHY: Yeah. I will miss my teammates, my coaches. It felt really good. We had a lot of fun this tournament. Like, a lot of people didn't expect us to get here, but we clicked at the right time and I really enjoyed this whole week with my team. And, yeah, I'm going to miss my teammates more than anything.

Q. You really dominated the court this season. What do you look forward to next season?

MCKENNA HOFSCHILD: Just getting back to work with this team. I love this team. I love this school. So just next season we'll be right back here.

Q. You had seven second half rebounds in the fourth game in four days. Where did that energy come from to pull that off?

KARLY MURPHY: Yeah. I mean, just fighting. Like, I don't know, just wanting to win, and I feel like I didn't really perform as well as I wanted to the first half, so I just really had to show up for my team more in the second half and, yeah.

Q. Obviously Essence was a handful tonight for you guys, but your performance was a lot of grit. Was any point of your game feeling like you had to go toe-to-toe with her?

MCKENNA HOFSCHILD: No, not necessarily. I think I just wanted to help this team win in any way possible. So she had a great game and I think when there's offense clicking for them you got to find offense clicking for us, so I was just trying my best to do that for this team.

Q. Four games, four days, UNLV really dynamic in how they play. What did you guys have to do to withstand some of those surges and everything knowing that obviously fatigue is part of what you're dealing with?

MCKENNA HOFSCHILD: Yeah. I think just understanding that they're a very good offensive team and knowing that they're going to go on runs and they're going to be explosive on that end. So not to get too down, not to get too worried, just keep battling back. I think we fought a lot all 40 minutes tonight. It didn't go our way but this team showed a lot of toughness, so I'm proud of it.

Q. I know obviously very fresh coming off the game, but do you guys, would you want to continue playing if that's an option for a post-season tournament?

MCKENNA HOFSCHILD: Yes.

KARLY MURPHY: Yeah. Yeah. We talked about it already. If that's an option we want to stick with this group and keep trying to make a run.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, ladies. We'll take questions for coach.

Q. What's the game plan when you face a dynamic duo like Essence Booker and Desi-Ray Young? Is it just maintaining them so they don't go off or is there a specific game plan to stop them?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Well, you've got to dedicate a plan to those two kids. I mean, they're special players. They proved that tonight. I thought we had a lot of fight on those two kids. They made some tough plays. Eight out of their last 13 points, I think, were Desi and Booker, and not easy shots.

So that's what the good ones do. They make tough plays in tough moments. Those two did. I thought our kids competed really well, but they just got the better of us tonight.

Q. Despite tonight's loss the team has shown great intensity throughout the season. How would you describe that?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah. We just kept plugging along. We just kept trying to move this thing forward. There were moments where it was two steps forward and maybe one step back and I think we developed some scars throughout the season, but I think we handled those tough times the right way and I think that's why we made this run.

We finished the season with three tough losses. We didn't play bad, but they were tough losses. So we didn't splinter. We flipped the narrative a little bit as far as new season, that sort of thing, but these kids just, they wanted to keep getting better, as a coach, that's all you can ask.

They commit to the fight. They commit to the journey. And I thought these kids did a tremendous job of that, and it showed with how we performed in this tournament.

Q. Did you see anything heading into this tournament that suggested to you this team had a spark and was ready to make a run like this?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah, just the way we kind of played down the stretch. I mean, the Wyoming game, if we make another basket we're, that's a whole different story. But when we walked off that court, you could not tell me that our kids weren't in this, right? You just could not convince me of that, and that they wanted to keep improving and that winning was important to, them and so, and we practiced well. We kept practicing good. I think all 12 kids came to work every day and they had fun in the gym.

So these are long seasons. It's a grind, and it's easy to kind of fade down the stretch, especially if you kind of have some tough losses late. But they kept playing for each other. There was a joy on the court even when we were preparing for this thing and it just carried over.

Q. Isn't that how you walk away from this game tonight is feeling like you did not play bad, you just got beat by a good team who made the plays when they had to.

RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah. That's athletics, right? That's sports. I think we walk away from tonight where we went for it. Those kids went for this thing every single night. And so they can hold their heads high.

And we didn't play bad. We just got beat. Okay? Welcome to basketball. You got to make some shots, right? We didn't and they did. It came down to -- how many turnovers did we have? Six? Okay. Six turnovers. And the shots that we got, I mean, we're sitting there, those are good shots. Those are shots that can win you games. We just didn't make 'em at the high enough clip tonight and Vegas did. So that's why I say congrats to UNLV, but our team played a good basketball game.

Q. You mentioned tough losses down the stretch, but you kept wanting to practice hard and improve. Was there a player leadership that kind of took the reins on that, because not every team would keep doing that?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Well I think every person -- they did a good job of kind of leading themselves first of all. Individually they committed to just keep plugging along. I think our seniors were really good. I think it was very evident in everything that we did, whether it be practice or games or meetings or film, just how committed they were. So I think Upe and Karly how they competed down the stretch and how they performed down the stretch, that was big. So their leadership was huge. But I'm proud of 'em all.

Q. Continuing to play, is that something that is important to you and them as a whole it sounds like?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean we want to keep playing. I hope we did some things here in this tournament to catch some momentum and if there's a WNIT bid we would surely love to play in it. We're still having fun, right, you don't get to play this sport forever and you don't get to be on a team forever, so we're going to enjoy this as long as we can and we just, we hope we can.