BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2026

Tina Langley

Avery Howell

Elle Ladine

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Washington Huskies

Postgame Press Conference

UCLA 78, Washington 60

THE MODERATOR: We'll welcome Washington with Coach Tina Langley and student-athletes Elle Ladine and Avery Howell. Coach, we'll take an opening statement.

TINA LANGLEY: First, I would like to congratulate UCLA. I think Cori and her staff have done such a great job this season. Just an incredible culture and program that Cori has built. Grateful for our friendship and excited for her and her team.

Really proud of this team. So proud of the fight and growth we continue to show. I think the way that we respond to each game, win and loss, is the same, and that's to go back and get to work.

This team really loves each other, and they love to compete, and they love to work hard, so excited to see what we'll do in the coming week or so.

I thought for three quarters we played really solid basketball. Really liked the way we prepared, and excited for the next opportunity.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You guys just played three really competitive quarters against a team that's been unbeatable in conference play pretty much. What do you take from that heading into two weeks when you will be in the tournament?

AVERY HOWELL: Like Coach said, we know they're a really good team, so it gives us a lot of confidence with what's to come next. I think it just sends us back to being proud of the work that we've done all season, to be put in this position and really compete against the best teams in the country.

I think the whole team is excited to get back to Washington, get back to practice, and then see what happens from there.

Q. Coach, there was a point where they called a timeout down 22-12. From that point forward, what did you see UCLA do that changed their orientation to the game?

TINA LANGLEY: I think they just got a little more physical and they obviously went inside and attacked us. We had some foul trouble as the game went on as well, so just the physicality and the intentionality of getting the ball into the paint.

Q. In these three games with your selfless basketball, can you speak to how Brynn, Sayvia, and Hannah elevated your team this week?

ELLE LADINE: Sayvia, she's playing with the best defender on her every game, and for her to come out and pass the ball like she did tonight is super impactful.

Hannah, she just has a poise to her in these big moments, in these big games. She keeps us all calm and collected.

Then Brynn is just a bucket inside and plays very physical.

All three of them impact our game and our team so much, yeah.

Q. Coach, going up against Lauren Betts is obviously a huge challenge. Did she do things differently in the second half, maybe the way she was sealing better? What was she doing better with post touches?

TINA LANGLEY: Yeah, I thought Lauren did a great job of sealing early and deep and got us in some tough positions. I think we came out in the first, especially the first quarter I thought we had great ball pressure and we really moved well and caught her a little bit earlier. Then as the game went on, I think she got us a few times.

Q. For Coach, Brynn was matched up as about as tough a match-up as you can ask for. What did you say to her before the game, and what did you see from her throughout the game as a freshman?

TINA LANGLEY: Can you ask me that again?

Q. For Brynn, she had a tough ask with her match-up. What did you say to her before the game, and what did you see from her as a freshman?

TINA LANGLEY: Yeah, well, the first time we played Brynn could not go one-on-one as a freshman. So as the game went on at UCLA she kept battling and getting better and understanding Lauren, how she plays and how she might need to address that.

Second time around I thought she had some really good moments. Got in foul trouble. When she gets in foul trouble, it can be tough for her. I think, like I said, Lauren's experience, the question he asked was point on, which is -- Lauren is experienced. She keeps getting deeper and sealing you earlier, and it's just experience versus a little inexperience.

But I love Brynn's growth. I think she's tough as nails, and I'm excited to see how she's going to play in the NCAA Tournament.

Q. Coach, have you guys made more of a concerted effort to get Avery the ball off some set plays instead of having her create for herself more? Can you just talk about what you've been seeing from her and what you want to see going into March?

TINA LANGLEY: Avery can score in a variety of ways. So you can create opportunities for her, or she can create for herself. We want her in both. We want her to be able to handle the ball and create opportunities, and we want to set screens for her and help her to be open.

Q. This is for both of the players. Obviously this is not how you wanted your conference tournament to end, but your season is not over. How do you leverage this moment in figuring out how to approach your prep up until Selection Sunday?

AVERY HOWELL: Yeah, I think a couple of off days to get our minds right, our bodies right. A couple of days of practice just rolling into March and the tournament.

I think that looking back on our season, we've done a lot of prep to be in these situations. Obviously this isn't the way that we wanted to go, but it's going to go back to our work and what we're doing in practice, getting our minds right, getting our bodies right, and then being our best before the tournament starts.