NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - BELMONT VS OREGON

March 18, 2022

Nyara Sabally

Sedona Prince

Kelly Graves

Oregon Ducks

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with an opening statement from the head coach and take questions for the student-athletes. We are joined today by Oregon head Coach Kelly Graves, Nyara Sabally, and Sedona Prince. Coach, take it away.

KELLY GRAVES: First and foremost, we're excited to be here. I think that goes without question. We never take this for granted. We're fortunate to be in the field. Personally, I'm not sure these guys quite understand it. We've tried to talk about it, but personally I'm really thrilled to be here in Knoxville because this is really the epicenter of women's basketball and has been for a long time. So it means a lot to me.

I actually coached here before back in the day against Coach Summitt. We're just thrilled to have a chance to compete in this great tournament.

Q. Nyara, we had discussed just what your thought process was in terms of the future a couple weeks ago. If you're able to share if you're either closer to a determination of what you're planning to do once the season is over and what those factors will be into that decision.

NYARA SABALLY: Nyara Sabally. I haven't really thought about it too much in the past days. I'm really just focused on ending the season right now and just playing each game, as many games as we get to play. Then the decision will be made after the games are over. It will kind of just be a decision that I make in the moment.

Q. Sedona, can you speak to the relationship that you have had with Nyara over these past couple of seasons because it is unique compared to other teammates because of the recovery that both of you had to go through and that dynamic. What has she meant to you over the last couple of seasons where, again, with your redshirt season for example and those things, just your relationship is different with her compared to other teammates.

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, we kind of had that bond those first two years. We both weren't playing, so we had to fill those new roles, and we ended up getting really close.

Yeah, it's just way different. I think Nyara and I have a really close bond. We've been through a lot of hard things, a lot of ups and downs these past couple years. It's been rough, but we've kind of gone through it together, through the happy moments and sad moments. We've cried a lot and laughed a lot.

Whatever her decision is, I'm going to be proud of her. I'm going to support her. She's an incredible basketball player but an even more incredible person. I'm very grateful to have her in my life and in my journey.

Q. For both players, you've been to the tournament, but this will be the most sense of normalcy around a tournament in terms of your participation and just the crowd and everything like that. For both of you, what you're anticipating in terms of atmosphere and environment and presumably looking forward to it compared to experiences for you both personally in years past.

NYARA SABALLY: I'm super excited. This is like crazy to think about, but this is my fourth year in college, and this is the first time I actually get to play like a real postseason with fans in the stands. So I'm super excited. I think we have a great team. I think we're going up against great teams. I'm just excited to get started.

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, me as well. Also fourth year, first year in front of fans with a normal kind of NCAA Tournament experience. So we're excited. We're going to make the memories while we can, have a lot of fun, not take any moment for granted. All the girls are really excited as well. So it will be fun, and we're just excited to see where it takes us.

Q. Nyara, what's the difference just been year over year where you guys are at Matthew Knight for the first two rounds, last year it's COVID, this year it's here. Just from the travel going to and from the hotel, now the COVID regulations the NCAA has on aren't as strict as last year. Just what it's kind of been like off the floor, and how has that kind of changed every single year for you guys?

NYARA SABALLY: It's definitely different. The traveling is -- I kind of like traveling. I think it's fun. It kind of brings the team really close together. You make fond memories. Obviously, the first year hosting it was amazing with our Duck fans in the stands, but I have no doubt we'll see some Duck fans in the stands here. They follow us everywhere we go. So I'm really excited for that.

I just think it's a whole different atmosphere, especially this year, like the fact that we don't have to like be restricted only our team, like we can go out, go to Starbucks, take a walk, stuff like that. So it's definitely better this year.

Q. Kelly said he tried to kind of impart to you guys what it meant to play here, what it meant for him to be here personally. What did you guys take away from that? What does it mean to you to be kind of at a place where it meant so much to women's basketball?

SEDONA PRINCE: Just to be able to be here, all the history for women's sports. It truly is inspiring to us and our young teammates as well, to learn about Pat Summitt and what she did for women's basketball as a whole sport and for athletes. It's inspiring for us, very educational. We get to learn and be in a place where women's basketball kind of just made its name and definitely changed the world.

So we're excited. It's definitely cool experience and a lot of memories. So, yeah, it's going to be fun.

NYARA SABALLY: Yeah, definitely. Like Sedona said, it's going to be a nice experience to learn. We're going to go to the Hall of Fame later, which I'm really excited about. I actually didn't know much about the history of Tennessee, growing up in Germany, I didn't really hear a lot about it.

I'm really excited to learn about the history that this place holds.

Q. Sedona and Nyara, Sedona, your video last year on social media helped get so much attention to some of the disparities between the women's and men's tournaments. Still early, but have you noticed any improvements beyond the logo at this point? Have you opened the swag gifts yet? What do you want to maybe see and hope to see this year?

SEDONA PRINCE: I think we wanted to stray away as much as possible from last year because our sport has done a lot to make improvements. Now that we have them, I don't really see a point in talking about the inequalities that we had.

So we're just excited to be here honestly. This is a first year for everyone. We're going to make a lot of memories and stuff. But it's about basketball now, and that's what I want it to be about. I want the world to watch our team and not associate it with that, but associate it with how great we are on the court.

With everything, it will be kind of be we'll see, but we're excited. We're very thankful for the NCAA. They've made changes. That's all we wanted. Now it's just time to ball. That's all I've got to say.

Q. I realize I'm asking post players about a guard, but bear with me. To Belmont specifically, obviously Wells is the engine for them in the roles that you play when she's obviously getting to the hoop. How will you each go about that and the challenge of trying to contain her since she is so clearly obviously their main and primary weapon?

NYARA SABALLY: We talked about it in practice. The focus is to protect the basket -- especially us, we're probably not going to be guarding her on the perimeter. So just protecting the basket, walling up, defending without falling. (Laughter).

Definitely, she's the kid that makes the team go. Good player. She's as good as any player we've played in the Pac-12. So we need to contain her and rely on our length.

SEDONA PRINCE: Like Nyara said, we're obviously not going to guard her on the perimeter, but when she comes in the paint, we have to be strong and not foul, something we've been working on all year.

She also gets that energy going for the team. Once she gets a couple baskets, it's hard to come back from that. She inspires the rest of her teammates to get going as well. If we just contain her, she's going to make shots, but we've got to contain her a lot. But if we just go out and play hard, I don't have any doubts about our team.

Q. (No microphone.)

Can you parlay that success into success this weekend? Obviously you guys have a size advantage.

NYARA SABALLY: Yeah, obviously, it's always a focus of ours to get the ball inside, play inside-out. That's a big strength of ours, not just with us both, but the players on the bench. We have such depth, especially when it comes to size. So it's always a focus to get the ball inside and just kind of doing our work early, getting in position, and getting deep so we can take advantage of our length and size.

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, I agree. We've been talking about all year how to start inside presence is getting a lot of our guards to get their open shots and play their game as well. I think that's a hard matchup for any team is someone 6'7", 6'8", 6'5" in the paint taking it up and being able to shoot. It's nearly impossible to guard one-on-one, and that makes it a lot easier for our guards to get shots and for our offense to flow.

It will be fun to kind of play together and pound it inside. Yeah, I'm excited.

Q. Last year during the pandemic, maybe some of the wow factor wasn't there the first time in the NCAA. Curious, do you feel like you have a wow factor going on for the court this first time? Mentally, how do you prepare for the difference between the two versions of the tournament?

SEDONA PRINCE: Last year it's an NCAA Tournament, but there weren't any fans those first two games. So it didn't really feel quite like it should have. So this year it's going to be like our first year, kind of like freshmen again, which will be fun and exciting.

Yeah, it will definitely be different. I think stepping on that court for our first game is going to be kind of the bright lights again and the fans and the loudness, but we're used to it. It will definitely be exciting.

NYARA SABALLY: I agree. I'm nervous.

Q. Kelly, you've spoken a lot this year about the dynamic with you and Nyara and obviously the challenges there have been because of injury in terms of her practice availability and those things. If you can shed a little bit more light and pull back that curtain a little bit further in terms of just what that has been like on a day-to-day of not just this season, but in summing up really these four years. Because whatever her decision ends up being, her four-year experience so far has not in any way, shape, or form gone according to what the plan was for mostly reasons out of anybody's control. How do you describe that in particular this season where she's taken so much growth but also the availability that's been an issue?

KELLY GRAVES: Well, I think it's a real testament to, number one, her toughness, number two, her resolve, and three, her talent. The fact that she, even to this day, is really unable to go through an entire week of practice I think really shows how good she is. To go out and perform the way she does in the games with limited practice time is very impressive.

I feel for her. She came to Oregon in hopes that she would get to play with her talented sister Satou. That never materialized, unfortunately. But her journey, I'll tell you, you can't help but just love her and love everything about her and just the fact that you take two years off the way she did, that's really, really difficult. Then to come back and kind of be on and off again has been tough.

I'm happy that she know gets a chance to play in front of the women's basketball world, so to speak, and show how talented she is. If she does go and declare, we're going to support her and love her. Satou left after her third year because she had graduated. Nyara will also graduate. She's got a bright professional future ahead of her.

My guess is she'll be a first round draft pick if that's what she decides to do, but she's also checked some boxes and given herself an opportunity academically to come back. So I don't know. I don't know what she'll do.

If she asks for my input, I'll let her know. I've talked to several coaches and general managers. So I kind of know where she might either be placed or have a chance to go. But she hasn't asked me yet, so we haven't talked about it. I believe her when she says she's focused on this tournament.

Q. Kelly, the situation being new for you, I know if you had the chance and you had taken it, I know you would have loved the opportunity to have hosted games at home. But after talking about flushing things from the Pac-12 tournament, is it kind of refreshing that this is an environment your players have never played in before, this is an area of the country that Oregon doesn't see very often, and that there is almost a bit of a reset and a clean slate by being able to come into a new place and really get away from the year that's kind of been so to speak?

KELLY GRAVES: Again, like I said before, we don't take this for granted. We're happy to be in the field. We're a 5 seed. If you look, that still puts us in the top 20. That's the high bar we've set for ourselves when we think, wow, 5 seed, what happened?

Sure, we would much rather have played at home, and we had a chance to win a couple of games or at least one game, and we didn't. So we didn't earn that right. So I don't begrudge the fact that we're a 5.

We now have to come on the road and earn it, and I say on the road because I'm assuming Belmont is going to be kind of like a home team tomorrow. My guess is everybody in that color orange -- that color orange back there, not that color orange, a little different -- will be rooting for the Bruins. So it's going to be a true road environment.

I think we're okay with that. We're just going to have to make the most of it and play. I agree with Nyara, I think that will actually get our kids up. I think we're excited to play.

The Bruins are going to be good. They were a 12 seed last year. If anybody knows how to compete as a double-digit seed, that's how I made my living at Gonzaga. Personally, I've coached, I think, eight wins -- yeah? Maybe nine or ten wins as a double-digit seed. So I've been in that position.

I think once you get to the NCAA Tournament, anything can happen. We saw that yesterday in the men's tournament. We're going to see it in ours as well. Again, we just are glad that we have a chance to compete and play at least one more game.

Q. Last year it's fair to say you wanted to stick around in Vegas longer than you did, but you bounced back and had a nice run in the NCAA Tournament. This year you wanted to play in Vegas longer than you did. Do you feel the conditions are right to have another regroup and stick around in this tournament for a while?

KELLY GRAVES: Absolutely. Last year we limped into the NCAA Tournament and really beat a good South Dakota team soundly and then upset a 3 seed to get to that Sweet 16. I think we're one of six teams to get to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the last years since 2017. It's not a place uncommon for us, and I anticipate we're going to play our best basketball, and we need to, otherwise it will be a short trip.

Yeah, everybody's 0-0, and that's the beauty of this.

Q. What will Jackie be able to do while being at home here? I'm assuming doing a lot of video and advanced scouting for you guys since she's in that role. And is that the case? In terms of player availability for you guys, is Maddie a go at this point? Lastly to the matchup specifically, Wells and Tuti Jones and the challenge that they present to you guys.

KELLY GRAVES: A lot of questions there. For those that don't know, kind of our defensive coordinator/coach Jackie Nared Hairston is due any day, so she opted not to make the trip. Come on, you're either all in or you're out. Let's go. No, she smartly with her doctor and husband decided that she would stay at home.

Yes, she's been in contact with us. She helped in the preparation before we left. We're going to miss her. There's no question. She's great on the bench. But there are certain priorities in life that trump others.

In terms of -- see, you can't give me three-part questions. Okay, availability, yes, as far as I know everybody is ready to go. Not everybody's healthy, but everybody will be cleared to go. We did have some players this week that were limited in practice, but hopefully the adrenaline and the fact that we're actually playing will help in that regard.

Thirdly, you guys, Belmont's really good. The more I watch them play, the more I realize how good they are. They don't really have a weakness that I can find right now. They're just really, really solid at both ends of the floor.

I know Coach Brooks does a helluva job and is a really good coach and one of the bright young coaches in our game. He comes from an offensive background, but I think their defense is really what's set them apart this year. They really defend well.

Personnel-wise, they have players that -- you know, Wells we've already talked about, is phenomenal. She's as good as any guard we've played in the Pac-12. Reminds me a lot of Jayda Curry, who plays for Cal, who actually led the Pac-12 in scoring this year. That's how we've kind of compared her when we're practicing.

Inside is -- I'm still only to the numbers stage, but maybe Bartley, No. 3, their inside player, very good, very skilled, very patient. When she gets the ball, she's crafty, and she's got the size that can match up with us. Then 0, I think is Jones, I really like her. She's that glue player that plays both ends of the floor, dead eye from three-point range.

They're really solid. They're well coached. They know who they are. They play to their roles. And you know they've won in this tournament. They won as a 12 seed last year. They're used to playing good competition. I mean, Georgia Tech and Arkansas and Mississippi, beat Mississippi, Louisville. They played those teams close and played them tough.

So they're not going to be intimidated by the Oregon name or kind of our tradition. So it's going to be a good game. It's going to be a battle.

Q. You can call this an unofficial fourth because I'm piggy-backing right off that anyway. We kind of joked at the end of the presser the last time we saw you, three-point shooting, Belmont does a lot of it, and they do it well. That's something you've harped on a lot with your guards over the course of this year. If Maddie's at least going, how much of the help does that provide even if she may be not at 100 percent for this one, but also it Te-Hina and Endyia just being able to tamp down on that side of the ball?

KELLY GRAVES: Overall in the season, we've actually been pretty good defending the three-point line. We struggled at times. We certainly struggled against Utah in our last game. Yeah, having Maddie there full-time -- and Maddie is relatively close to 100 percent. -- I think really helps. She's one of the elite defenders in our conference, which makes her one of the elite defenders in the country.

Again, with someone like Destinee Wells, it takes everybody because she comes off so many ball screens. They have her in different actions that there are going to be times when these two will be on her, at least for a short period. So it's going to take everybody.

And I think you've got to corral her because she sets everything up, to be honest with you. But they have other really good weapons. I actually really like their team. They remind me a lot of my Gonzaga teams when we would roll into the tournament as a so-called underdog. To them, they're not an underdog.

Q. You mentioned you coached against Pat Summitt. What do you remember about that? Did coming to Knoxville bring up those memories for you?

KELLY GRAVES: It wasn't a great memory when we played here now. It was cool playing here. When I was at Gonzaga, I had Jami Bjorklund, a sister of Angie Bjorklund, who's a great player here. So that's why we did a home and home.

It's funny, when they came out to Gonzaga, they were our first sellout. Can you believe that? People would come out to see the Lady Vols when they had Candace Parker. It was that group.

I just remember the excitement around the arena. I thought it was -- even the student support was great. Sometimes we struggle with student support in women's basketball. I talk to these guys, and I said, Tennessee -- when they were little girls, when they were just growing up, maybe before they even knew much about basketball, this was the standard by which every other program was judged.

Coach Summitt couldn't have been nicer. I have a great Coach Summitt story. We played them three years in a row, home and home and then played them in the Virgin Islands one year. We had the late game playing in the Virgin Islands, so when I got back to the hotel -- everybody stayed at the same hotel. I went down there because I'm a big guy, I like to eat. I went down to the restaurant, and it had already closed. She was coming out, and she had a big old pizza box. I was a young coach, didn't really know her at that time at all.

But she said, Coach, I'm heading back to the room. I've got some pizza. You want to share it? So I had a chance to go up and she had her son with her. We had a great time. I had a chance to really get to know her. We shared a pizza together. That's really the first time that I'd had any interaction with her. She was a legend. I was a nobody.

I thought that was really cool. It showed what kind of classy person she is. We talked about lots of different things, including kids. I have three boys of my own. That's where we decided to play each other in a home and home was that night. It was really cool. That's an experience I'll remember forever.

So this, where we're at today, is not lost on me. It might be on them. You can only tell them so much. But this is not lost on me. This is going to be very, very exciting, and we're not worried about the Lady Vols right now. We need to worry about the Belmont Bruins, but the venue itself is special.

Q. You've been in this tournament for a few years. Can you tell any difference? How were the travel arrangements? Any improvements there? There's all this talk about trying to improve things and even things up. Have you been able to tell much? Obviously, there's that behind you, but at this point, have you noticed anything yet? Then I'll follow up after your answer with a second part question rather than throw two at you at once.

KELLY GRAVES: I haven't really noticed anything yet. The reason why, we pulled in about 11:00 last night. Our charter, I think, was probably the last NCAA Tournament team to arrive. I haven't seen a lot yet. However, I was on a zoom call.

I kind of kidded Sedona the other day because I had to sit through a 45-minute zoom call with the NCAA about all the changes they've made this year. I told her I was going to run her because of her and her strength last year and bringing up the equity issues that she did, they have made changes, and good on them. It's obviously been long overdue. I'm really proud our student-athletes feel like they can speak up and they have a voice. Sometimes they don't realize how powerful that voice is. I think now they do.

So far, yeah, it looks like it's going to be a great, great tournament. We've learned from some of our mistakes. That being said, we still can't rest. We've got a ways to go.

Q. And the follow-up, neutral sites. Coming here, there's going to -- fans in this area support women's basketball. But if you advance, if Tennessee advances, you could be playing them in the second round. How close do you think this game is for the women to getting to neutral sites, and how much spade work has to be done to make those work?

KELLY GRAVES: You ready? Okay. And I've said this for years. We were fortunate to host for a few years. I've been on the record for years. It's not just because we had to travel as a 5 seed this year.

I think it's time for our tournament to really be fair. I think we can stand on our own merits this year. Does anybody think Saint Peter's beats Kentucky in Rupp Arena yesterday? No, that's not going to happen. Things like that, I think make the tournament magical.

So I would like to see us at some point -- I don't know if what format but kind of get away from the home sites and play in a neutral site, neutral tournament. Whether that's 16 teams at one site in the first and second rounds, whatever the format. I just think our game is growing. Our game is really, really strong right now. I think that would be a good thing.

That being said, I'm glad we're here. I'm looking forward to this great Tennessee crowd. All of whom will be rooting for the Belmont Bruins, and they're going to bring their own fans. I think that's great too. I see both sides. I personally would like to see us move along and do it in a neutral, kind of neutral site.

Q. To speak to Nyara's experience specifically with Kim because I know Kim has such a huge role in the program, obviously, with every player, but because of Nyara's first two years specifically and then this year from game one and the knee and tweaking things and whatever occurred in Tucson. I don't need all the details. Can you speak to just the importance of Kim and her relationship to Nyara over these four years?

KELLY GRAVES: Probably a question better asked. Obviously Kim Terrell is who he speaks of. She's our trainer, our team mom, our team psychologist, as well as the best trainer in the game. Yes, they have developed a really great friendship. I think Nyara leans on Kim not just for the physical part, but other things in her life, and I think that's really important.

Kim, yeah, she's always there for them. I guess you could call her our MVP. She truly is. We have a lot of kids that get banged up. It's a long season, so everybody takes their turns in the training room with her. Those two have a special bond.

And I think Sedona, if you really talk to Sedona, she'd say she's the reason she's still here because she just helped her so much after everything that had happened at Texas physically as well as mentally. Kim, I think, really took her under her wing and just kind of led her through some difficult times, some dark times.

I am really blessed. These two young women here are not only great players, and they truly are, they are really strong women, great leaders, great people.

Sedona, not to change the subject, Sedona has her followers, her 3 million-plus followers, they're not just basketball people. She's a rock star. We had a rock star a few years ago named Sabrina Ionescu, and everywhere we went, she would just get swamped by everybody. Sedona's the same, but they're not basketball people.

So I think Kim's relationship with these two both really speak to her value as a part of our program.

Q. Along those same lines of folks on staff that make a difference here, I would imagine you can impress upon your players as much as possible about things that have happened in past runs and what was needed mentally of those teams to get to those places, but you've got somebody on your staff who's younger in Oti, who was a part of that as a player. What's her importance now as far as being someone they can relate to and saying you were here when I was here and this is what we did and this is how you need to be to get to that point?

KELLY GRAVES: Oti Gildon, who we will elevate now as an assistant coach because Jackie is not here, I think she exemplifies everything that is good about intercollegiate athletics. What she gave us as a student-athlete, or an athlete, maybe the winningest player we've ever had in the program, but what she did as a student, her sack commitments -- she's like the mayor of Eugene. Everybody knows her. Everybody loves her inside the program, the university, and in the community.

So, yes, she's been a valuable asset, just kind of talking to these kids. Every once in a while, they need a kick in the ass, toughen up. She's also that person that can put her arm around their shoulders and say, hey, listen, when Coach says this and this and this, he's doing it because he loves you. She's just been great for us, and it's good to have her here. She's developed a really close friendship, especially with those two, because they were part of the program when she was playing. And I think that really helps.

So she's the bridge between really that elite group that we had for a few years and this current group. We're still a very young team. Te-Hina Paopao, this is her first NCAA Tournament. She's just a sophomore, great player, All Pac-12 two years. She didn't play in the tournament last year because she was hurt.

Maddie Scherr, sophomore. Sydney Parrish, sophomore. These two technically are sophomores. This is just their second year. Nyara missed half of this year and a lot of last year. So we're a really young team in terms of experience.

I'm interested to see how we're going to do tomorrow and how they react to this hostile environment.