NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MIAMI HURRICANES VS OKLAHOMA STATE

March 17, 2023

Jacie Hoyt

Naomie Alnatas

Terryn Milton

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Oklahoma State Cowgirls

Media Conference

Q. What does it mean to be able to bring Oklahoma State to the tournament and have a chance to advance against a very powerful field that's here?

NAOMIE ALNATAS: Well, it means a lot to us. Being part of a team that just brings it where we are today, and we're just super grateful that God allowed us to orchestrate this whole thing so we can be here today.

I think that the program -- I mean, it was time for a revival, and we definitely understand that. At this point it's just keep being us, it's us versus us, like it's always been from the start. And it's just about proving to us that we belong here with the other teams. It's pretty fun so far.

TERRYN MILTON: I agree with that. It means a lot. This has been the goal since day one since we got there in the summertime. I didn't even really know Mimi at first. To see us now, we've came a long way, and as a team we're just really grateful for this opportunity.

Q. What are the emotions like when you see your name come out in the bracket, and when does it go from the jubilation of being in the field to focusing on the opponent and what you need to do to prepare for the game?

NAOMIE ALNATAS: For me, it's different because I had to wait six years to be able to come to a March Madness. It was kind of a finally and grateful attitude like we've been talking about, an excitement. It never happened to me. And seeing your face on the screen with your teammates and the people you love and the people that we're in the room supporting us as well was just kind of a great accomplishment that I can look back later in 20 years and say, wow, I was in that room celebrating that at that moment.

After that, I give a lot of props to our coaching staff. They work so hard. I know they went back to work right after we appeared on the screen. It's just trusting them with that.

We know that we didn't know a lot about our first opponent, but it's just trusting your coaching staff, and we do a lot. We're proving that again and again. And it's just a fact that yeah, we don't know a lot about them, but at the end of the day, it's always been about us. So just go out there and just -- I want to say it, give them hell. That's it.

TERRYN MILTON: I agree. I think it's more about what we do and how we prepare. Our coaches have put together a great game plan that we're very excited to execute. We have a lot of confidence going into this game with what we have going on here at OSU. So it's great to be able to go out there and represent a university that's supported us all year, and we're just really excited.

Q. What strikes you about what you've seen on tape from Miami at this point?

TERRYN MILTON: They're just a really hardworking team. So we're going to have to go out there and give 100 percent effort. Yeah, we're really excited, and we're ready to step up for the challenge.

NAOMIE ALNATAS: I think it's a pretty good matchup. They play hard. They're athletic. They can rebound. We all know that. I think for us, we just are going to embrace that matchup, and just the same way they have their strengths, we also have our strengths. Our team is also gifted, if we talk about skills and talent and all that. I think it will just be a great matchup.

Q. For Mimi, obviously 2020 you guys are headed to the tournament, the tournament gets canceled. The emotions of that now until. And Terryn, having played at UTA and getting really close, I'm wondering what you learned in that NCAA Tournament.

NAOMIE ALNATAS: For me, it was definitely unfinished business. That team back in 2020 was really good, awesome people, great players. But yeah, it was cut short because of COVID.

It was definitely unfinished business from there, and I am glad that Coach Jacie had this opportunity here, and she called my name, and we were both on the same page. We are not just going to Oklahoma State, just so you know, just to be regular. We want to go out there and just build something.

That was my mission, help her do that. So whenever I leave, she has something solid to keep on going on. I took it personal.

But yeah, it's fun to walk in it with her and with T. That's just funny to me that she's sitting next to me when last year we was playing against each other and hating on each other. It's just interesting that she's sitting right next to me and actually I like her. (Laughter).

TERRYN MILTON: For me, I kind of just got to experience how special it really is. There's a lot of teams that are back home on spring break, not even playing right now. It truly is so special that we're still playing and we're still in it. I mean, it's March; anything can happen. You look on the TV, there's games playing all day, people are filling out brackets. We're a part of that, and that's something I don't take for granted.

Q. Terryn, February, seven of eight games were victories for your team, and then March probably hasn't gone exactly how you had planned, but you find yourselves in the tournament. What has the focus been over the last seven days since your last game to get to this point, and what have you guys been focusing on?

TERRYN MILTON: The focus has been on us and what we're good at, what we need to continue to do.

So I think if we focus on us and we execute the game plan like we intend to do, I think we should be just fine.

NAOMIE ALNATAS: I mean, like T said, yeah, it's always been on us. The game plan, it's just -- we're used to it. Picked ninth in the conference, we finished at the top. Every time we have been the underdog, and we just like that role. I am really grateful that I have these girls around me because I just love their character, the way they hold themselves. And going about it with them every single time, it just makes it fun.

I couldn't think of a better group to go to work with, and I think it's just all about that. Just go out there, have fun. It is basketball. It is what we do. It's not who we are. We understand that. This thing comes from God, and we are just giving him the credit a thousand percent. Out there, it's in his hands. Just make sure you do your job on the court, and he will take care of the rest.

Q. As the veteran leaders of the team, what are the conversations you're having with some of the younger players on the team? Is it don't take this for granted, just have fun?

TERRYN MILTON: It's definitely don't take this for granted. This is such a special opportunity.

Another thing we've been saying is don't look too far ahead. Just stay in the moment, stay present. Feel all the emotions you're supposed to feel because you never know when the season could be over.

NAOMIE ALNATAS: I'll say to add to that is also empowering one another. It is true we have a pretty mature group with older people in it, but the youngest that we have are also really gifted and talented. It's making them understand that their gift, their role is as important as one of our roles. And just empowering them and showing them and reminding them that they're as important as anybody on the team and that we will need them, their special gift. We will need them. It's just empowering one another.

Q. You talked about empowering and talking about needing people. March is made for the unsung hero. Who is somebody on the team this year that has helped you get to the point that you're at that maybe doesn't get enough shine or enough love from the media or otherwise?

NAOMIE ALNATAS: I honestly cannot give you one name because we have proven back to back to back. I can think of Kassidy De Lapp that had her come-out party back home. I can think of Lior Garzon going off. I mean, G; how many times G has proven that she was it. I can't give you one name.

Taylen Collins, that solid shot blocker, rebounder, athlete, great player. Lexy Keys hunting her nine all the time and just being that special and important player for us. And then Terryn Milton, just knocking that shot at the tournament. Claire -- I can't sit here and give you one name. I have to give a shout-out to all of them because they all stepped up at some point in the season.

TERRYN MILTON: The only thing I would add is we're a team that truly believes that every single person contributes to the team, and so I can't say that one person has done more than the other. We've all had our moments where we've stepped up, and that's what makes us such a good team is because you never know where it's going to come from, but you just know it's going to happen.

We're all happy for each other when it happens. We're all excited for each other when it happens. That's the beauty in our team.

Q. Preseason No. 9, zero preseason Big 12 selections, one postseason Big 12 selection. You guys talk about us versus us all the time. How much of that, because Miami, obviously the opponents you're going to see here, have nothing to do with that, but if you keep it us versus us, how much of that actually drives you guys to go out there tomorrow. And however far you go, how much of it is just information and how much of it is actually driving you guys to motivate you to win these ballgames?

TERRYN MILTON: For me personally, not a lot, just because it's March, you want to win. Really all the other stuff, it doesn't matter. Shout-out to Mimi for getting first team. You're amazing. But at the end of the day, we want to win. We came here to win, and that's the only thing on our minds.

NAOMIE ALNATAS: Period. Seriously. But she's right. Whatever happened before, at this point it does not matter. How many times top seed teams we see getting knocked out. It just don't matter. That's March. I'm just grateful that I finally get to experience that.

It is the truth; we want to win. If it has nothing to do with winning, guess what, it don't matter.

JACIE HOYT: Just the Cowgirls feel incredibly grateful and blessed to get this opportunity to continue to play in this tournament. And to still be playing at this time in March is something that I don't believe anyone thought, outside of our program, we would be doing at this time this season. I just couldn't be more proud and thankful to be here. But we're certainly wanting to stay as long as we can.

Q. Seems like you have a very mature group. How does that change, or how does that impact what you do as a coach in terms of directing them and guiding them and helping them grow as players?

JACIE HOYT: Well, I think as coaches, we all want certain qualities in a team. And I would say for me, what I've learned in my experience is that I think maturity might be the most impactful to help you throughout a season.

It's just been such a great ride for me to be able to have that maturity and experience, because I think that the teams that are most successful, you'll find that they're player-led, and the maturity of our team has been exactly that. They lead each other. They coach when I'm not in the room. They coach when I'm not in the huddle or on the floor.

I've been spoiled more than I've ever been spoiled because of that with this group. And I think that you just look at the resilience that we've had throughout the season, going through different bumps in the road that come with the season, maybe the adversity of an illness or an injury, they just always find ways to figure it out and come up with solutions.

I think that's ultimately what's helped us be so successful this season.

Q. Coach, I'm kind of curious, I think you went to two NCAA tournaments at Kansas State. I'm curious what lessons you've drawn on to try and help everybody get through this experience.

JACIE HOYT: Yeah, I was so fortunate to be a part of those experiences while I was there. Jeff Mittie, who's still at Kansas State, is someone that I've just learned so much from.

When I was at Kansas State, we were able one year to host, and then the other one we were on the road like we are now.

I feel like I was able just to kind of learn what I like, what I don't like in terms of how I would want to treat the team. I think this time of the year it's really important that you figure out what's going to connect or click the best with your team as far as their mindset. March is all about mindset.

I would say just learning how to motivate and keep them in a position of belief, but also staying hungry and kind of playing with a chip on your shoulder. I think that's something that I really was able to learn in those situations.

We won; we were actually an 8 and a 9 seed in both those years, and we won both of those. I'm just so thankful to see different ways to figure out how to win that first game, especially being in the seed that we're at.

Q. We just spoke with Naomie and Terryn in here, and they both seem like very focused student-athletes. What have those two and their leadership meant to you this year?

JACIE HOYT: Everything. Mimi came with me from Kansas City, so in terms of laying a foundation for our culture and terminology and work ethic and all those things that I want Cowgirl basketball to be about, she's been able to be the voice and the example of what I expect that to look like.

Then Terryn, my goodness, she's just everything you would want in a point guard. She runs the show on the floor. She's got a steady composure that I think our team really needs. She's just a winner. She's won on every team she's ever been a part of since she was little.

I think that when we came into the program, it was like, okay, we inherited a situation or a program at the time that really was coming off not a very successful season, right. So it was really important for the staff and I to find players who know how to win and know what that looks like.

And Terryn has really put us on her back in terms of leading us and showing us what it looks like. And then just a couple games ago you see her make the game-winning shot. She's a winner, and she's really been able to help us lay the foundation in that sense.

Q. You've got a team that you focus a lot on finishing, and it was interesting to hear Mimi talk about coming to Oklahoma State because she had unfinished business, obviously. That bond between you two is obviously very special. It goes deeper than basketball. For Terryn, who has been to the tournament, also talked about finishing. You've got a locker room full of that. Talk about that, if you would, and what finishing means and just that relationship that you and Mimi have.

JACIE HOYT: Yeah, you know, this morning my mom asked me what I'm most grateful for today, and there's so many things, but I just said, a few years ago, everyone thought we were supposed to be in this position, and I was going to get to coach in my first NCAA Tournament in my head coaching career, and we didn't get to because of COVID.

This year, no one thought we could be in this position, and I get to sit here, and I'm confident that Mimi feels the exact same way. It's just something that -- when something is taken from you or you come up short, it just means more to you the next time you're able to have that opportunity.

I just know both Mimi and I feel incredibly grateful, and it's so cool for both of us to look back on everything we've been through and been by each other's side through the good, the bad, the ugly. I wouldn't be sitting here without her, and she wouldn't be here without me, and we both just have that incredible connection and love and respect for each other.

Then as far as Terryn goes, I think we're in such a unique position as a staff because the way that we put our roster together and assembled players from different programs or kept the players that we did, we have such a cool blend of players who haven't been to the tournament, players who have been to the tournament but haven't won, and players who have won.

Lexy, Taylen, Kass, they all know how to win. They've had a taste of that. It's just been really neat for me as a coach to see all of that come together and listen to the things that they're saying because they're all helping each other through it.

You know, the ones who haven't been, they've got an excitement that maybe the ones who have been don't have, and so that's good. But then also there's that maturity and experience of hey, okay, let's be excited, but we're here to win at the same time.

I think we just have a really unique, awesome blend of girls that all come from different places.

Q. I talked to a coach last week who won a 2020 tournament, didn't get to go. He said that it felt like it never happened at all. I'm kind of curious if you feel the same sort of way.

JACIE HOYT: My experience maybe was a little bit different because that year we won our regular season conference title, and that was the first time in program history at Kansas City. So the way that that was celebrated when we did it in the regular season, we did get to have that moment, we did get to cut down the nets, and just our school was awesome at championing us and celebrating that.

I am incredibly grateful for that, and that's what I hang on to about that year. But as far as the tournament, no one got to hear their name called. No one got to see that bracket released. All those things did not happen.

So I would agree to that point of just it did feel like, man, we were just really robbed of that.

Playing is one thing, but it's all the buildup to me, just the experience leading up to it. That Selection Sunday, the preparation, all the stuff that goes into preparing to play, I think is one of the most exciting things about this, and unfortunately we didn't get it that year.

Q. I asked your student-athletes this, as well, but they just kind of smiled and gave a really good response. But you won seven of eight games in February, which is great, and then March probably hasn't gone as scripted. Seven days between your last game and your next game, what's the focus been for this team as you head into your first game of the NCAA Tournament?

JACIE HOYT: The focus has just been fine tuning the things that we feel got us here. We're a team that can really score it.

I think when you're in the Big 12, you've got to play everyone twice and that second time, and then you look at the third time in the tournament, okay, we all know each other like the backs of our hands.

I've been really intentional about communicating that to our players that hey, we can't forget what got us here. We've got to continue to work on that. But also, I think we're all excited to play someone that doesn't know us like the back of their hands, just like we don't know Miami as well as their conference.

I think that that's something that is going to really be kind of a breath of fresh air for our team, just to get to gp against someone new.