UConn WBB FF Presser

Jen Hatfield with the next Kaitlin for you, you know, just what do you think the biggest areas are that you've grown as a player during your season with Yukon And how do you feel like Princeton prepared you for all that you've gone through this season and for this moment.

I feel like Princeton has prepared me really well as a leader. I feel like that's where I got comfortable using my voice, and I feel like that's sort of translated over here and then being here at Yukonage just a matter of getting comfortable playing within our system and finding the best places for me to succeed.

We won't go to our left coach Tredy from SB Nation this for you page right now. You're on a tear like you're going wild right now in your mind. Do you already feel like you're a pro going against college kids?

Uh?

No, not at all. Just being present here. I'm still in college and being my fifth year. Obviously, I want to use my experience as an advantage and use that to help myself and to help the team. But definitely not just staying in president here in college.

We're going to stay too, all right, Kareem if you can raise your hand. I see you will put you on a list.

Hey pitched Kareem Copland, Washington Post.

How did you you know?

Obviously the championship is the goal, but how did you kind of want to approach this one more run in this tournament? And you know, like you've just said, you know, you've kind of really turned it up these last three. So personally, how did you want to approach this tournament?

Just approaching it as one game at a time, one practice at a time, one weight room session at a time, and not looking too forward into the future, and going forty minutes by forty minutes and playing it by possession. I think focusing on the possession that you're in will help you not worry about mishots or mistakes in the past,

We'll stay to our right.

Please, je Doug Farrenberg, the Associated Press for all three of you. What challenges does you silly present for you guys?

Sorry?

Yes, please?

Obviously, Lauren Betts decide what she does offensively defensively protecting the paint and being a force on offense, really carving out space for herself, but also what she does to get her teammates open looks with all the attention that she draws, and it's not just her. There's shooters sprayed around the outside, so you can't focus on too much on one thing.

So they're really versatile.

And what they do offensively defensively got good size, good length, so they got great pieces.

I agree they have great pieces, especially Lauren Betts and the inside. And I think if we do a good job of just well, we we gotta like play both and play their inside and outside. They have some great shooters too, so I think they're very riskative.

Yeah, everything, the two of them already said.

We're going to the center of.

The room high Paige Kirk Sandoval from maybe C seven when you stepped into this program, it's a legendary women's program. Can you speak to a the pressure then, and did it ever diminish, how did it become or has it ever become just normal?

Well, I think before you even get here, you kind of know the pressures that exist by committing to Yukon, So by making that decision to want to come here and try to live up to that and be a part of a legendary program. It's a decision you have to make before you even step on a campus. And then once you walk inside the practice facility, you see all the history, all the names, all the banners.

It's just motivation.

And obviously there's expectations here and anything less than a national championship is really a disappointment. And as players, that's what you play for and what you want to live up to, and the expectations and the pressure. It's a privilege, and so we all look at it, look at it as such, and we're just extremely grateful to play here under the best coaching staff in the world, in the

Take our next question, Cassandra, then we'll come to mil.

Cassandra Neglie with Yahoo Sports page. When you were talking about not taking anything for granted, the saunas, the food, everything like that, how different is that from your first Final four? Do you feel like you did take those final moments with some of those teammates for granted.

I wouldn't say that, it's just that you don't even recognize how important they are to life and how you're not ever guaranteed to get back there again, and having experience being at the Final four, how hard it is to get there and how hard it is to maintain

Mil Mel Greenberg for Caitlin. When most people are transferring out the door right now, it's contentious. The IVYS is the other way they tell you you're done.

Good luck.

So it's going to be a more friendly departure given who your coach is. And also we found it interesting the other night that you did the same role that she did in ninety five. It's sort of a lifesaver and a key spot. But in leaving did she kind of granted he's an older guy. Now give you the Book of Yukon or whatever you know, whatever you can share on that When you were making your decision, she.

Was definitely a very helpful resource as someone who played here and knows the coaches very well. But I just know that she is my best or she had my best interests in mind, and I shoose someone who I trust tremendously and someone who helped me make this decision.

For sure.

Going to go to our left in the gray BU could raise your hand in the YEP Dead Center.

I'm Mike Anthony from Herston, Connecticut for Paige Page. I know that this sport is an easy on one's body, and you are five years at Yukon, what have you learned about taking care of your body? Wondering if you could just speak to how any body transformation you've seen in five years. I know you take more seriously strength and contraditioning and nutrition and just a lot goes into that I understand.

Yeah, I would say the importance of eating, getting all three meals, of course, but also stuff in between, sleeping how important that is for the body, and rest and recovery and making sure you're replenishing yourself with a good, nice rest. Pilates has been a game changer for me in terms of getting all of my body parts to work together as one. Everything surrounded by the core, so making sure my core is engaged, and even just activation.

Going to stay middle to the back. If you could raise your hand in the green so the student athletes can.

See you.

Domin Marie Hartford, current Pegia Gino alluded to this the other day. Obviously, Lauren Betts has talked about it, the scrutiny and the pressure that comes with what you do and where you do it. How did you learn to kind of deal with that? I imagine there were times when it was even more than you thought it was going to be. How did you learn to handle all of that that goes around being a basketball player at Yukon?

Yeah, I means still a learning process, learning to care less about the opinions of others and trying to please everyone. For every five hundred people that love you, there's gonna be five that hate you. So it's just focusing on the people that are important. And obviously there's a saying like you don't take criticism from people you can take advice from, So just making sure you're listening to the

Well, stay So I left in the blue. If you can raise your hands so we can get the microphone.

Tea Chelsea shrod S and y Aubrey and Caitlin dis questions for you. Paige has talked about a sense of urgency that she's playing with right now, and I think we've been seeing that over the past few games. I wonder what that urgency looks like for the two of you and kind of how that shows up in your approach to the games.

We can start with Orber.

I think her sense of urgency rubs off on everyone. Just how hard working she is and you can tell she's really determined and the traits that she brings to the games. It rubs off on everyone. Her leadership is something that we all look up to her for and she's done a great job of just being that leader this year and it's overall been great.

Yeah, And I feel like when we see her sort of take it into like that next level, like turn the switch during games, it's pretty infectious, like it's something you want to be a part of, and you see her giving her all into like you want to give her all as well.

We are at time for our student athletes. At this time, student athletes will move over to the mixed zone. The locker room for Yukon is now open and we will be joined on the daist by a coach.

Thank you, thank you, welcome coach.

All right, coach, we are going to begin on our right hand side. Joe will go to you. I see you, Doug, and I see you as.

Well, Joe Gino Joey Johnston from the Tampa Bayed Sports Commission. Your friend Jose Fernandez is about to become the president.

Of the WBCA.

Could you speak about your relationship with him, what you think he can bring to this role, and what you think the WBCA's priorities are for the coming year.

Well, yeah, I've known Jose for thirty years now almost, and I think he's a tremendous coach obviously as everybody knows, but he cares deeply about the game itself. He's been involved in various committees. Uh, you know, so he puts the time and and and the effort that it takes. I was in that role and so I know it's it's a thankless role because you're trying to bring a lot of different agendas to the table and try to make them all go in the same direction.

Not always easy.

Uh.

Hopefully he can get the right people in the room too. Be be okay, with thinking outside the norm.

Asking the right people for advice. You know, there's.

A lot of administrators, there's a lot of coaches, there's a lot of ads that they've been to multiple, multiple final fours with the men and the women. And I think a lot of times we say, well, just because the guys do it, that doesn't mean we should do it.

That's absolutely true.

We do something that they don't do, which is, you know, we have quarters. They're the only people that bounce the basketball to play halfs. We advanced the ball so the game lasts longer, so you have longer, more opportunities to win the game. You know, we did away with the one on one and all that. We've come up with

We're going to do a little bit of a zigzag. We'll go Doug, then we'll go domb and then we'll work our way back.

Hey, Gina, Doug Farnberg AP Corey was saying before, I guess thirteen years ago she came to watch you guys practice in the n SEE a tournament. I think you said sweet sixteen round and then came back to the staff a year later. Just keep talking about her relationship with her and just the fact you're willing to open up the biggest time of the year to let a coach who was new so to speak at a school coming and learn from you guys. And now you're playing her on the stage.

Yeah. If I to know, and I wouldn't let her in. Yeah.

I I just remember when I was a young coach, especially in high school. When I was a young coach in high school, I always admired the coaches that were open and willing to share ideas, their ideas. I've never been one to want to hide anything or oh my god, their competitors. And one of the funniest things that ever happened was three kids, you know, from Tennessee showed up for practice for like two or three days and they thought,

And our relationship, you know.

And through USA Basketball, Courty and I got to know each other a little bit and we both share, you know, passion for Wines and you know so her you know, her, her energy and all that that she has that she brings is just infectious, I think, And and I'm glad when coaches have success, and that's what we're here for.

Going to our that's all left Domamory Hart for current.

You know, you've coached a couple of Hall of famers that Yukon and that number could double, yeah, in the next couple of days.

I wonder if you can.

Give us your thoughts on on the possibility of a couple of more of your players going into the Hall of Fame.

You know, it's it's so unbelievable that when you think of a seventeen year old that you're sitting there talking to and you're projecting them as freshman sophomores in college and juniors in college and where do I think they can be and how much impact could they have on our program and all those great things, And when they're there, you realize there's something special about them and fast forward and then to look up and realize that their wilder

But I don't.

I don't know that any one of those kids ever came to Yukon saying, you know, I came here to make the Hall of Fame, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I don't think anybody said that. Maybe Diana did, because you know, but for me to see, you know, what's happened out there with Rebecca and Swim and now Maya and Sue obviously being in the mix, that that pretty much is bigger than when you look back then all the national championships.

Hamers who.

They're hall of famers for me, they're Hall of famers for their family, they're Hall of famers for everybody. They're even Hall of famers for the Yukon haters. That's one thing they can all agree on. You know, they're they're Olympian Hall of Fame famers, they're w NBA Hall of famers, they're college Hall of famers, they're Hall of famers as people, most of them.

I'm going to our right, Ben, if you could raise your Handsel coach can see.

You're been picking with the athletic. You know, Don was in here earlier and she met that she wants or she hopes that college basketball would have its own TV deal to determine its worth. I guess where do you stand on? Who said that down about the meteorites deal?

Oh, the women's basketball should have their own Yeah, yeah, I thought they were. I thought they were doing stuff like that. I thought they were trying to spin it off. I don't know where that got, and it probably didn't get as far as maybe it could have. But we talk about that all the time, and we also, Uh, it's funny because we talk about it in in in our league. You know, we talk about it as as you can. You know, how do we how do we

I think.

When you put it out there, you're gonna have to be ready for it. Maybe smaller than you think, and it may be three times larger than you think. So it's best to find out right instead of just keep wondering. So, yeah, I would think that would be fantastic in the States.

To the center of the room, coach, Hey, you know, Matt Baker with the athletic another kind of big picture question, but revenue sharing probably going to be finalized and signed off on here in the next couple of days or weeks. What sort of impact do you expect that to have on your game and the types of programs that are able to compete From women's final.

Fours, well, it all ruin parody, that's number one.

I mean, I'm for revenue sharing. There will be.

Less parody in the game of basketball. If you look at right now, there's less parody happening every year in men's basketball. People talk about the football twelve schools, it's the same four in the final four, seems like every year. And as the money now drives it, there's gonna be less people that have that kind of money. There's gonna be less of them. They're gonna want to give it

Maybe.

So when you do, when you do those kind of things and it's money driven, it's going to be who's going to become the Dodgers and the Yankees and how many of those are you going to have? And how many other programs in women's basketball are going to be Milwaukee and Kansas City because that's where we're headed. And don't believe this twenty point five million salary cap. See the thing in the NBA if you go over to salary cap, there's a huge tax.

There's a salary.

Cap in revenue sharing in sports in college, you think anybody in their right mind is going to stick to twenty point five. That might be what's on the books, but that ain't going to be the final number. And there's nobody out there looking around to collect taxes on that.

Coach, You're going to go to our right, Can.

We play at UCLA? They're really good? Start to throw that in.

Hey, coach t Baker with the next when you Caitlyn Chen obviously had a great ELITEA and when you think about what she's brought all season, what has been the different the biggest difference she's brought to the team and what gap has she filled in the roster?

Maturity, experience, you know, things that we obviously lost when when Nica graduated. She's a different player than Nika, different personality, approaches things differently, different skill set, but in.

What we needed for this particular.

Team, I think she's been the perfect edition. Obviously, Sarah Strong was the biggest addition. I think Caitlyn Chen was the perfect addition for what this team needed at the position that we needed it. And so you saw the other night in that game. Why was worth bringing her in? And I have had a blast coaching her.

I mean, go to the second row on our left.

Contrary to I, really students, they do have a sense of humor.

Hi, I'm Stephanie from eSPI Nation. There have been a few players not from yukon this tournament run who have expressed they've come from traumatic or toxic environments to other schools. You have a wealth of coaching experience and you obviously have players for decades that adore you. What do coaches like? What do coaches need to do better?

And oh man, even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. I mean I could share when I can't share that much. I just think this incredible pressure to win and the pressure to your question about revenue sharing, the pressure to win is only going to get greater. You mean, I'm paying you guys, and this is what I got to watch. Somebody's getting fired, So the pressure's immense. It's only going to get more pressure packed. So how do you react under pressure. Well, if you've been there and done that,

Take a final question from the back, shehent tell if you gree you hand hate you know chanton Jennings with the Athletic and Spokane.

You said that page has a little bit of Diana in her. I was hoping you could expand on that. What about her honor off the court reminds you the most of d.

Obviously there's a lot of similarities and there's so many differences as well. They in the best sense of the word. Number one, they are both exceptional con artists. They can spin things so that it goes their way about ninety nine point nine percent of the time. So they live in that world, which I admire that because winners do that, they have to be right, they have to be the top, they have to be unchallenged. So they've got that going

Of them in how do how do they compare? Now?

How are they? How are they different? That would be a whole different press conference.

Want to thank you for your time today, coach.

Thank you.

A reminder for those in the room that the locker room for Yukon is still open until two ten pm.