MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 6, 2023

Stacie Terry-Hutson

Asia Avinger

Sophia Ramos

Yummy Morris

Kim Villalobos

Thomas & Mack Center

San Diego State Aztecs

Postgame Press Conference

San Diego State 69, New Mexico 68

THE MODERATOR: At this time we'll go ahead and introduce Coach to make an opening remark.

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: Yeah, what a great basketball game. You know, it's a pleasure to compete in the Mountain West with such talented teams. New Mexico, we know who they are. They play fast and they can score the ball at a high rate, so we were prepared to run with them. We did a great job there. It really just came down to getting that last defensive stop.

So proud of our girls and the effort. We were behind someone just told me the entire game until the last 40 seconds. I joked and said, that's how we planned it, but excited for them to keep playing. This is a great team.

The chemistry is unreal. They love each other and they play for each other. They get on each other, but they're genuinely really -- it's a great group, so excited for them to play another day.

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and take questions for the student-athletes. We have Asia Avinger, Sophia Ramos, Yummy Morris, and Kim Villalobos.

I'll go ahead and throw it out to any one of you or all of you. Good disbursement of points on the stat sheet getting everybody involved. Can you talk about your roles and getting your whole team involved in tonight's game?

SOPHIA RAMOS: Yeah, so we always take pride in how deep our team is, so any given day anyone is going to have a good game.

So it's super nice that the right time there was, I don't know, five, six of us that had double figures, and it was clearly very important because we only pulled out a one-point victory.

So our depth is our strength. We're going to keep rolling with it the rest of the way.

THE MODERATOR: Continue down the line.

ASIA AVINGER: I would agree with what she just said. We play for each other, and that's what starts. This group right here, we did so great, especially the ones back in the locker room as well. If you play for the person next to you, then you'll have so much success.

YUMMY MORRIS: You definitely took the words right out of my mouth. That's what I was going to say.

KIM VILLALOBOS: Same. I'm, like, it don't matter who scores. We all care the same, so, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: What was your mindset coming into the fourth quarter? You trailed the whole time or tied and then like the coach said, 49 seconds left in the game, you finally took the lead. Was there ever a point where you were, like, are we ever going to get over the hump?

ASIA AVINGER: We all had that mentality. I've been saying this since the start of the season: Whoever wants it more is going to win the ball game.

So once you dig deep within you and bring that dog out, we got it. We got it.

YUMMY MORRIS: And I just remember during the stretch like Sophia pulling the five that was on the floor, and she was, just, like, hey, the only thing that matters right now is that all five of us is locked in, all five of us want to stop, all five of us want a defensive stop, transition over to offense as a scorer.

So as long as we were together, as long as we were on the same page, we knew we were going to win the game.

SOPHIA RAMOS: You know, our team is something special. I've been on both sides of this, the losing team and on the winning team, and I think this team is by far the most special one that I've about an a part of.

So that last quarter, you know, it wasn't even, like, okay, there's 49 seconds left, lock in right now, because it's going to be a 40-minute game. Asia said it best: Whoever wants it more is going to get it, and luckily it work out in our favor.

Q. How did you keep your team upbeat during the... (off microphone)

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: That's what they keep telling me. You know, this group has been through a lot this year, a lot of adversity, but they stay very poised. I mean, we turn the ball over that last possession going into that defensive possession, we had a chance to go up three. We turned the ball over and were able to get back and get a stop.

That was a good play that they ran. They made a back door trying to get Asia, she recovered, and Yummy got a good stop, and obviously the rebound to secure it.

But there was no point in the game where there was doubt. They believed, and they believed the entire time. We were just waiting to take that opportunity.

Q. For Sophia, just playing UNLV tomorrow, and played them close both games. I can't imagine you guys aren't going to feel like you can't find the defense tomorrow.

SOPHIA RAMOS: It's March. It's been one of my favorite things to talk about with John. It's March. Anything can happen.

It's going to be a good one. We played them not too long ago, so they're fresh on our mind, just like we're probably fresh on theirs. It's going to be an exciting one. I'm glad we get to get another shot at them, and hopefully works out in our favor.

THE MODERATOR: When you talk about depth of your team, you had Abby coming off the bench, 15 minutes; she contributed with 10 points, 4 rebounds. Can you talk about her bench play?

SOPHIA RAMOS: Abby is special. Abby is very special. I don't think she gets enough credit for as much as she does for us.

Moves well without the ball. Does all the dirty work. Is one that's always going to sacrifice her body, no matter what. I'm so happy we have her on our team this year. I'm so happy she had a good game. It's super nice having her on our team.

THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you so much. Are we'll continue with coach.

Questions for Coach.

Q. What was the game plan in terms of taking away their threes, and how well did you feel you executed that? And was it a little surprising the fact that they hadn't made a three, but you were still losing early in the game?

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: Well, you know, when we lost to them up there they still outscored us in the paint too, so they're not just a one-trick pony. They shoot the three well and they have drivers on their team that are really hard to stay in front of.

So we just made it a point to try to take or make at least -- not take them away, but make it tough to limit the touches of the three shooters that can really shoot the ball on their team, and I thought we did a good job of that.

We made some mistakes and went under, and that's when they hit threes. That's going to be the message moving forward against UNLV, is to lock in defensively. You know, at this point everybody knows everybody it and what they can do well, so you have to try to take away some of the strengths of the team, and I thought we did a decent job. They only hit five. They were 5 for 19, so we did a good job there.

Q. The kids talked about Abby, but she was ice water today. She hit some big shots. Every time you caught up they would take the lead again, and you needed somebody to catch you up again. It seemed like she did that for you a few times there in the fourth quarter.

STACIE TERRY-HUTSON: Abby does a lot for us that doesn't show up on the stat sheet. I mean, she's probably -- her and Yummy take the most charges on our team. Defensively she's just a little gnat and a great defensive player for us, but her midrange game is really, really, really good, and she hit a couple of shots with a lot of confidence, and that was really nice to see.

So I'm glad she had a good game. Our bench is really good. You know, Alex has been sick. Came off the bench and gave us good minutes. Sarah came off the bench. She's not known for her defensive prowess, but had some great defensive possessions where she did a great job on one of the best drivers in the other locker room.

So just proud of our bench along with Abby.

Thank you, guys.