BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2026

Darnell Haney

Brianna Scott

Mohegan Sun Arena

Georgetown Hoyas

Postgame Media Conference

UConn - 84, Georgetown - 39

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement and then take questions.

DARNELL HANEY: Thank you all for being here. Proud of my team for getting to this point. I think we've been through some adversity this year. Just like every team has been through adversity, but we've been through some adversity of our own, and we were able to get here to this point. That's a great team we just played out there.

We really couldn't get into anything on the offensive end. And then defensively, we had some mishaps. But just proud of my team for their fight and their grit at the end of the season. And kudos to this young lady. She's put her heart and soul into this program, and I want to make sure that it goes on record that -- you all hear that -- just like all of our seniors, but especially this one, we just appreciate you from the bottom of our heart. Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.

Q. Hearing your coach kind of talk about you in that way and seeing the joy and the heart and fire and competitiveness you brought to the floor, what does it mean to you to kind of feel now -- you've left a legacy at Georgetown basketball, which is a very proud Big East school.

BRIANNA SCOTT: That was my goal coming here, just to make a mark on the program with my teammates. I'm not a person who wants to take credit for anything. I credit my teammates for being there every day and making me better, trusting and believing in me to come back. It meant a lot to have their support, despite coming back. So I'm happy I got to leave a legacy and hopefully I can make the program better for years to come.

Q. Despite what that score says, what's probably the most misunderstood aspect about your seniors and just this overall team how tough they really are?

DARNELL HANEY: Probably the most misinterpreted or what people don't understand about this group is they really -- we have a standard in our program, is that we lead everything with love. And when they go out -- and when they're going out into a game, and when they going out to help someone, they're leading with love collectively.

One of the things that you don't see -- so we had, like, a little scavenger hunt. We had went on a little -- we had, like, a three-game losing streak, and I was like, you know what? We're not going to practice. We need to do something a little different. So we had a scavenger hunt, and part of the scavenger hunt was they had to go out and help somebody that they wouldn't have helped, right, within that hour or so that we gave 'em on the scavenger hunt. And, you know, we broke 'em into three groups and one of the groups, which contained a couple seniors -- and I don't know if it was your group, but one of the groups went out and bought a gift card, right, and some food, and they went on M Street and they gave that gift card, a $15 gift card of their own money, and some food to someone on M street that needed it.

Like, you don't get that out of kids these days, right? All these kids -- a lot of these kids these days they want to see what they can get out of it. They want to see how does it benefit them only, right? Those young ladies that did that, they won the scavenger hunt, of course, because they did something that was outside of the box that didn't have anything to do with them.

I really appreciate our group because that's just a testament to who they are. Great people that want to help others. Great people that want to see this program win. So I thank them for that.

Q. What was it about UConn's defense that seems so debilitating? You played them three times this season. What is it about what they do that just makes it so hard to get around?

BRIANNA SCOTT: They're a solid team. They communicate very well, and they just take away what you want to do. Like, your first action, they want to take it away. I mean, the goal of the offense is to take advantage of the defense, but I feel like they do a very good job of trying to control what the offense does and dictating that. So I feel like -- obviously, they're a very, very talented skill team, and they did a very good job of that today and the last couple times we played them as well.

Q. Before the game, during the warmups, you were really having a good time dancing, getting excited for the game. Can you talk a little bit about the experience of playing here and just what it was like to go through the injuries and just be able to be on this stage for your last game?

BRIANNA SCOTT: It's just a blessing, honestly. Just having that experience with my teammates, not knowing if it was going to be the last game before the game, like, we played together, just enjoying it and just being present in that moment. It felt really good to just celebrate with my teammates, just be happy before the game. Like, you can't go into a game, oh, it's the No. 1 team in the country, so what? Like, I mean, sure we lost, but, like, you can't go into a game and expect to lose.

So we bring the same energy every single game. So that same energy was there, like, last couple games, like, dancing on the side lines and stuff. You've just got to enjoy yourself because obviously didn't know it was going to be the last game, but, you know, like, those memories are going to live forever, me dancing with my teammates before the game, just enjoying it, and just exuding joy through basketball.

Q. Sometimes when you play a No. 1 seed and they have had a layoff, they come in a little bit flat. Can you just talk about the energy and focus that UConn played with from the start today? They just look like a team that's on a mission right now.

DARNELL HANEY: Yeah, I think you just said it. I told Geno after the game, like, they're playing like they're on a mission. They got something to prove. I mean, if the draft was today, I mean, the top three picks in the draft would be on that team right now, right? I know top two, right? And out of the top 10, it will be three of 'em. I know that.

But outside of that, like, their role players do such a good job of doing their role. Shade, she doesn't get the credit she deserves. I think Shade just is kind of the glue to them, right? You've got Fudd and you've got Strong, but then you also got inside, like, they can pressure you with KK, and then they send you into Serah Williams, right?

So it's just, like, the question earlier was what stifled you? It's just you can't get a mismatch, and if you do get it, you take away the first action, and you think you got a mismatch, and then here they come with somebody else. And they're quick and they're long and their defense -- I said this the other day. Their defense might have been the best I've seen since I've been here. They got a team that looks like they're ready to make some moves into this tournament.

Q. Hearing Bri talk about exuding joy through basketball and obviously you can tell that you're a players' coach and you love seeing your players kind of succeed. Seeing the compete level that Bri and Laila and Brianna Byars and Kya and everybody showed on your team this year, how inspiring was it for you to watch them as a coach?

DARNELL HANEY: You know, I would say it's not their job to inspire me. I feel like it's more my job to find a way to inspire them. And when I see that, right, win or lose, and I see that fight and I see that inspiration that they play with and the joy that they play with, I feel as if more so than a win or loss, I feel like they're ready for the world, because they're going to have some downs, they're going to have some ups. But I feel like my job, especially my job here at Georgetown, is I got to win games, right?

But also why I got into this was not for NIL and to pay players. Why I got in this is I wanted to inspire people to be great in the world and impact the world. You see a young lady like Bri Scott, there's a 5-year-old somewhere watching Bri Scott that wishes she was Bri Scott. And Bri Scott's showing that joy every single day, right, that's impacting the world.

So that little girl -- I got an 8-year-old daughter and when she came into Mohegan today, first person she came to hug was Bri Scott. So they're inspiring the world. So my job is to inspire them so that they can inspire that little 5-year-old girl, little 8-year-old girl that will soon be in Mohegan or will soon be wherever in the Big East tournament and know that she can do it.

We have a big issue nowadays with young people, especially young women, with their confidence, with them feeling like they're enough. And when Bri Scott is out there dancing and bopping and going out there screaming and one, that little girl knows that she can do that when she gets older. She knows that she can play and be whatever she wants to be. My daughter knows she can be whatever she wants to be as long as she puts her head down and she gets to work and she does it through love and she does it with joy.

So I appreciate them. That's how they inspire me, because they're helping me with my children. They're helping these children around us. Just watching them, it's helping them grow up. So every day I thank 'em for being able to do that.