BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2023

Jacie Hoyt

Taylen Collins

Terryn Milton

Municipal Auditorium

Oklahoma State Cowgirls

Postgame Press Conference

West Virginia 61, Oklahoma State 62.

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by head Coach Jacie Hoyt, Taylen Collins, and Terryn Milton.

Coach, welcome back to Kansas City. If you would like to offer an opening statement.

COACH HOYT: Just an incredible game for both teams. Two really great teams that just play incredibly hard, and have battled every time we've seen each other.

I'm just so proud of our team for their resilience, their gritty, tough-minded -- just everything that you would want in a team. We got to have that today, and I just couldn't be more proud.

Q. Terryn, walk us through the last play and what's going through your mind as the ball sits on the rim for two seconds or whatever.

TERRYN MILTON: It was a clear-out play for me going to the right. I knew that they were going to help in. As far as the shot, it was a crazy shot. I felt like the ball was on the rim for a good five seconds. It felt like time stood still for a second and then it rolled in, and the rest is history.

It's crazy.

Q. Terryn, I would like to ask if you can recall a shot of yours that hung on the rim that long. After that, a lot wasn't going right for you guys shooting, turnovers. Where or what flipped for you guys in the fourth quarter?

TERRYN MILTON: We just kept playing. We trusted in our game plan and we kept shooting the ball. We're a team that is really good at shooting, so we're going to keep shooting no matter what. Eventually they were falling, and that's when our momentum started coming our way.

It was great to see the ball finally start to go in and us finally start to close down on that lead.

Q. Taylen, I have a couple questions. First, it looked like you were right underneath the rim and the ball there at the end. Did you think it was going to go in?

TAYLEN COLLINS: I was believing it was going to go in, but if it was coming out I was going to try to get up there and tip it in.

Q. Before the game got going in the end, Taylen, you were the only consistent source of offense. How did you manage that stretch and maybe with Clair not able to play today, how do you go into this one with your role?

TAYLEN COLLINS: I was doing whatever I could to keep the momentum going and kind of pick up the slack when my team needed me to, especially grabbing anything I could and kick it out to our shooters and get them going as well.

Q. Terryn, how big is it for you to get a clear-out play down one in a big game like this? How big is it for you to get that trust from the coaches?

TERRYN MILTON: It's huge. The coaches trust in me, my teammates trust in me. In the huddle they all knew what time it was and they wanted me to have the ball in my hands, and that means the world to me. That gave me all the confidence in the world to go out there and knock down the shot, so it's huge.

Q. Terryn, your family has a pretty good basketball history. Do you think this is the best moment?

TERRYN MILTON: That's a good question. My little brother is doing his thing. We all know Shake, he does his thing. But I would say this is number one, and he would probably say the same thing.

Q. Terryn, you had the charge earlier in that minute, too. How much was this a moment you wanted redemption for that?

TERRYN MILTON: I forgot all about that, honestly. You can't hang your head on plays like that, especially when the game is tight and it's going to come down to one play anyway.

If I were to hang my head on that play and let this get into my head, I wouldn't have been able to knock down the shot at the end. So that was out of my head. Especially when we got the stop and had a chance to score that was out of my head.

Q. Taylen, you guys didn't play well most of the day, lots of missed shots, but to come back the way you did and win the way you did, do you think that can be an instigator going forward in this tournament?

TAYLEN COLLINS: You know, we're going to clean up the stuff that we did. We knew that we made mistakes. We weren't trying to keep that out of our heads. We knew we needed to lock in at the end on the little things, and that was a point that Coach drove at halftime. It's the little things that's going to carry us through this game.

So we are definitely going to take that into consideration in the next games to come so we can clean that up a little bit, too.

Q. A year ago you have a coaching change, don't have a lot of players returning. Did you ever wonder about what's going to happen? What's the future hold? From there to now and looking at what you guys have done with this new roster, could you believe that you would have this kind of transformation?

TAYLEN COLLINS: Um, no. It's kind of unreal because we came into this year with a bunch of girls that we had no idea, had never even met. So to be as connected as we are and to be as focused as we are, it's really amazing.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach.

Q. Jacie, you talked about a fresh start to the season. Pretty good way to start it, I guess.

COACH HOYT: Well, it wasn't a good start for the first 39 minutes. It didn't feel like it. But ultimately finding a way to win, it's the momentum that we were looking for. Can't think of a more dramatic way to get that momentum. It's not how I would have liked to get it, but we'll definitely take it.

We were able -- because of what we've been able to do all season we were able to have a sense of freedom knowing that we didn't have to win that game to ultimately play in the tournament. But we knew we were playing for a lot, and momentum was one of those things. Respect was another one of those things.

I think we got both of those.

Q. Jacie, where has your faith grown in Terryn throughout the year?

COACH HOYT: Terryn has been doing stuff like this all season long. I've been the most blessed coach, because it's not often that you have a team that in situations like that you can put the ball in multiple players' hands.

But I felt like Terryn was just in a really good headspace, and her length is something that really makes it hard for people to guard. You can you feel good about maybe like Mimi getting downhill, but she is so much smaller.

So Terryn has been able to do that all season long. She was very successful the first time we played West Virginia, so we felt confident knowing how we matched up.

But she is a competitor. That kid competes. I haven't known her family very long, but I would say that family, just a special, special group of people that is very, very competitive and just wants to win at all costs.

Q. Coach, this backcourt of West Virginia, very hard to contain. Obviously they gave you some fits today with JJ Quinerly and Madisen Smith. Can you talk about those struggles defensively of keeping them contained? And what changes are you going to have to make going forward in the tournament?

COACH HOYT: They're unbelievable. I don't know how you stop 'em. There were several times we played really great defense and they still score. Madisen Smith is playing at an incredibly, incredibly high level right now.

We just talked at halftime about, hey, they're -- I don't think she could see the rim on some of those shots she was making. She is a damn good player. I told our team we can't hang our heads when those shots go in. As long as we know we did everything we could within the possession, we have to have a short-term memory and do your best the next time.

They make you do that, because, man, they're good. You think sometimes you do a good job on one and the other one is going to get you. I think they're two of the best guards in the conference, and they've proven that throughout the season.

Then I think that as far as moving forward, I'm not sure who we're going to play, but it's two very different styles. I'm not sure that we're going to have to game plan the way that we had to game man for them. We will have different obstacles or challenges within the other teams but I think those two players are really special.

Q. Jacie, there are victories and there are comebacks and then there are comeback victories like today when the ball hangs on the rim the way it did. Can you see this game galvanizing not just your team, but your fans back home, saying I gotta be a part of this, looking at what I saw today?

COACH HOYT: I feel like -- I don't know why this is, but I feel like Cowgirl basketball, it's just kinda how it is. I don't feel like we -- nothing comes easy. We're very blue collar. We have to work, but we pride ourselves in that and we don't back down from it.

I don't care who we are playing and I don't care what the situation is, we always believe we can win. We have that belief because we work so damn hard. I just feel that we've kinda been having our backs against the wall all season long from the start when we got picked 9th.

We win big games, and I don't know what the deal is with that, but I know we're used to it. We're used to people betting against us. Our kids just -- they're so resilient. Our fan base is resilient. Our fan base has been amazing. I can't imagine a more supportive fan base.

I bleed orange, my husband and I bleed orange, my whole family bleeds orange because of the love that they have given to me and to my family. This was a huge win just for all of us. I think that it's kinda going through the hardships and the battles that make the victories that much sweeter, and that's what today was about, I think.

Q. Coach, what were the last 10 seconds like for you watching Terryn go iso and then watching the shot fall the way it did?

COACH HOYT: We've had a tough last week and a half. No one wants to go into March on a three-game losing streak. One of the themes or the mottos that we have been talking about all week long is that we are finishers and we're going to finish this thing out. We're going to finish the season out. We're going to finish possessions. We're going to finish quarters. We're going to finish games.

I was able to go into that last timeout and say, okay, we're finishers. This is what we have been saying all week long, and our kids responded really well. I loved our team's response when I said, Terryn, we're going to you. I loved Terryn's response.

This team is special. Couldn't be more proud of them.

Q. What went into the decision I think it was 13.3 to hold for a final shot, and if you could give us an update on Claire?

COACH HOYT: I felt like we were able to get stops, right? We held them to eight points in the fourth. I had the confidence in us offensively at that point to hold and not give them another opportunity.

So, you know, again, I think it goes back to finishing and the confidence that I had in them to finish it out. We set the time that we wanted to go at. Felt like that gave us enough time to score it and not give them the ball back, but also to give us an opportunity at a tip-in if we needed to offensively.

Q. Coach, you've played West Virginia three times now. Do you believe that they deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament? And if so, why?

COACH HOYT: I said it -- I do believe that. I do believe that. I think that they've got -- they're playing their best basketball right now. We've been able to see their momentum and what they've been able to do against the top teams in our conference.

I think who wouldn't want to watch those two players in JJ Quinerly and Madisen Smith? My goodness, they put on a show. You want to talk about ratings in women's basketball, watch those two. They're phenomenal!

I just think with the way they finished in conference and the way that they're playing right now, I'm not super into the net and all that stuff. I probably should be better. But I just think that with the momentum that they have and the way they're playing right now, I think they're a team that should still be able to play in March.

Q. Jacie, Taylen pulled down 15 rebounds, 6 of 9 from the field. How important was she?

COACH HOYT: She was phenomenal. We don't win that game without Taylen in the third and fourth quarter. She was the engine that made us go. I remember a possession she got three offensive rebounds. And they weren't just coming to her, she was fighting for them.

I thought the toughness, the grit she showed in those possessions woke our team up and reenergized us. Taylen was really special today.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, congratulations and thank you.