MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2024

Stacie Terry-Hutson

Adryana Quezada

Kim Villalobos

Jada Lewis

Abby Prohaska

Thomas & Mack Center

San Diego State Aztecs

Postgame Press Conference

San Diego State 72, Boise State 69

THE MODERATOR: Ready to begin with San Diego State. We have student-athletes Jada Lewis, Kim Villalobos, Abby Prohaska, Adryana Quezada, and Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. Coach, we'll start with you.

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: They tease me a lot because I say a couple of phrases, and they make fun of me all the time. One of them is imperative, and a lot of it -- the other one is there's separation in the preparation.

I thought our preparation for this tournament has been exceptional. It started a couple of weeks ago, but definitely for this tournament they were locked in with film today, and I'm just really happy for them.

These young women have been through a lot, and it's just fun to have -- to see them have the success that they've had. The job is not done, but we will celebrate this win tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Adryana, how imperative was it for you to kind of be a tough shotmaker in the second half? What did that do for your confidence? And then for everyone else, what did it do for the rest of the team?

ADRYANA QUEZADA: It was pretty imperative, yes. I guess I kind of just -- it grew my confidence, but it just also was a testament to the confidence my teammates have instilled for me throughout the year, and I feel like tonight it showed.

Q. What does her shot-making in that second half do for the rest of you guys for the confidence?

KIM VILLALOBOS: I think to us it's not a shocker or anything new. We know AD can do that on any night. It's really nice having a teammate you can rely on always and having her in your corner because it just feels like we'll win every game. So, yeah.

JADA LEWIS: Yeah, we get pretty hyped up when she makes shots, so I just love feeding her the ball and getting out the way basically, letting her work.

ABBY PROHASKA: I think it shows our depth. Every game we've played here, we've had one person or a few people go off, and it's always different. A lot of people counted us out of this tournament. We came in No. 7, and here we are going to the championship.

I am getting emotional because I'm just so proud of everything we've gone through to get to this moment.

Q. From the outside looking in, the number 17, making the championship kind of seems like a Cinderella thing, but do you feel like a Cinderella in terms of expecting to get to this point?

KIM VILLALOBOS: No.

ADRYANA QUEZADA: No.

KIM VILLALOBOS: Not at all. We know what we have in the locker room. We have everything we need to win a championship, and that's what we came here to do.

JADA LEWIS: Yeah.

Q. How big was it for you guys to force 20 turnovers while giving up I think nine of your own?

JADA LEWIS: I mean, that was a big thing for us. I didn't know we had 20. But, yeah, that number is huge, and I think that's what got us the win.

I mean, our defense was great. I was proud of everybody that stepped on the floor today.

Q. What was the message before the fourth quarter? They had that kind of five-point play, kind of weird situation right before the end of the third quarter. What was the message given that they brought it to within a couple of possessions?

ABBY PROHASKA: Honestly, I feel like we weren't even worried. We have a lot of confidence in each other, and I think that's a big testament to where we're at right now.

We believe in every single person on this team, and it shows when we're on the court because whenever AD makes a shot or Kim or Jada or anybody else, we support that, and we celebrate that, and that's just so important.

I think that plays a part in it too.

Q. You'll get to challenge UNLV tomorrow. How excited are you guys to be able to challenge a team like that given the way you've played in the tournament so far?

KIM VILLALOBOS: Really excited. We have all the momentum. Like I said, we have everything we need in the locker room, and we know they're a good team, but so are we. Just excited to play in the championship game.

JADA LEWIS: Yeah, ready to bring it tomorrow.

Q. Adryana, was there ever a doubt in your mind after you got hurt last night that you were going to be able to play tonight?

ADRYANA QUEZADA: I was not out. There was nothing stopping me.

Q. Never?

ADRYANA QUEZADA: No. Never.

Q. Was there any question from the doctors or trainer or anything after that, or you were pretty much okay?

ADRYANA QUEZADA: Yeah, I was okay.

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: We took her through all the precautions and made sure she was structurally sound, but it would have been really hard-pressed to keep her off the court.

Q. For the players, how happy are you for your coach? This is her first trip to the finals.

ABBY PROHASKA: We're beyond excited, and we're happy that we were the group to be able to do that.

THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach.

Q. In some ways you guys have been playing like you have nothing to lose. Just how proud of your team are you for playing like that tonight?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: We were talking about it. We're playing with house money right now, since we're in Vegas. You know, we're just trying to get better every time we're on the floor. Excited for the opportunity.

I'm going in my head of mistakes that we made in tonight's game, but being able to bounce back from those mistakes. You asked a question about what the message was going into the fourth quarter after the quick timeout. It was, you know, it's going to be game of runs, and Boise State is a very, very good team, and they can hurt you in a lot of different ways. We were not being as disciplined as I would like them to have been.

For them to fix it, go back and create a run of our own was really, really important. We needed to get some separation. They closed the gap again, but we were focused on getting stops and trying to rebound.

They're bigger than us in almost all the positions, so it was going to take a little extra effort to keep them off the glass.

Q. Were you disappointed at all with the number of assists that you had in the first half given that sharing the ball is what you -- or what has gotten you to this point?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: I was, to be honest. I didn't love our shot selection tonight, if I'm being very critical. We did a lot of one-on-one, but they calmed down, shared the ball.

Boise did a great job of are shrinking -- closing in on us in the paint, because our post players were doing a great job, and we took some bad ones, but we were able to find the shooters and move the ball around a little bit. Once we started getting some reversals, we got some good shots.

Q. What have you done in the past week or two to prepare your team for tight finishes like this in a tournament setting?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: You know, we've been preparing all season for this. We've been able to execute down the stretch, and that started probably a couple of months ago where I -- actually at New Mexico I thought we played a very mature, disciplined game even though we lost by three.

Since then they've just been really locked in, trying to learn, and been extremely coachable. When a player looks you in the eye and says, "Yes, Coach, I got it," it's really, really fun to work with those type of kids.

They've been able to make changes on the fly, which is something that we struggled with early on, but they're doing a great job of that now.

I want to say that my staff has done a phenomenal job preparing them, and they've been locked in with those scouts. But there was a lot of hours watching film and staying up late and getting up early, and my staff has done a great job preparing them.

Q. As coaches, what just makes you guys excited to do the same thing tonight and challenge UNLV team tomorrow for your first championship game?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: You know, we're just going to try to go out there and present ourselves better than we did when we came last time. We're going to play our game and do the things we want to do and play hard and defend and hopefully come away with a championship.

Q. When did you think -- at what point of the season did you think this had a chance to be a reality? Because really you guys overcame a lot of obstacles to get even to where you were at the beginning of the tournament, let alone now? When did you look at this team, you and the staff, and say, you know what, we might have something here if we can put it together?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: We've been very inconsistent. And I want to reference that New Mexico game at The Pit. I thought that was a turn-around for me because we were able to make plays on the fly and coach on the fly and them react and respond and correct things.

I thought then we had a chance to do something special. There was a little blip, like I said, when we came to Vegas last time, but then we turned around and beat a very good Wyoming team. We've been playing better defense, and I think that's been the catalyst. But my leadership has been outstanding in the locker room, and those kids, they just don't want to go home.

Q. Last thing, Adryana Quezada, how long did it take with you coaching her to start realizing that when she goes up for a crazy shot, a crazy-looking shot, it has a chance to probably go in?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: She's a hard shotmaker, and I get on her all the time because she's on the floor too darn much, but she makes big baskets at timely times, and she's hard to guard because we don't know when the shot is going up. She's going to pivot six times before she shoots it.

But she works on those things, and she's in the gym all the time. She's had a tough go at it, so it's been fun to watch her, and I'm really proud of her success.