MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 8, 2026

Ryun Williams

Madelyn Bragg

Lexus Bargesser

Thomas & Mack Center

Colorado State Rams

Postgame Press Conference

Colorado State 61, Grand Canyon 59

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Colorado State. We have student-athletes Madelyn Bragg, Lexus Bargesser, Coach Ryun Williams. We'll get your thoughts on tonight's game, Coach.

RYUN WILLIAMS: Really good basketball game. Tip my cap to Grand Canyon. I thought they were exceptional tonight. I mean, they had us sped up a lot of the evening and were quite disruptive, but really proud of our basketball team for having the competitive character to find a way to win that sucker, because it didn't look good for a lot of the night.

Enough winning plays, especially by these two, and this has been a tough group all year. You know, they've been in every single game all year long. I'm happy they found a way to win it, and you knew it was going to happen at some time. They really kept believing, but hats off to Grand Canyon for how they played today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Madelyn, when is the last time you hit a game winner?

MADELYN BRAGG: Last November at my old school was the last time, so it's been a while, I think.

Q. Ryun, I'm curious, watching you through three quarters, did you feel a sense of deja vu from last year?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Totally. Totally. I mean, yeah, same flipping bench. I mean, everything. It seemed that way. Just our kids were pressing. They just needed to find a breath, and they did that in that fourth quarter. You know, the grit kind of combined with just settling the game down in their minds was critical.

But, yeah, to answer your question, yes.

Q. Then, Lexus, when you are inbounding the ball, is that exactly the way the play was discussed in the huddle?

LEXUS BARGESSER: Yeah, and I think that's the first time all year that we ran it right out of the huddle, and I mean, what better time to do it, so...

RYUN WILLIAMS: We might be undefeated if they ran some of that stuff right.

Q. What was the feeling going into the fourth quarter based off the way you played the first three?

LEXUS BARGESSER: Yeah, I mean, we knew it was going to take a moment to, you know, really get locked in on the game and get our feels out of the way. It took a little longer than we expected, but going into the fourth quarter, the message was, you know, we have nothing to lose.

We're playing like scared like we have something -- no, we just needed to go out and be ourselves and toughen up and go win the game.

Q. Maddie, how big of a spark was it though when Kloe comes out and hits that early three? And then she had a really big fourth quarter.

MADELYN BRAGG: Yeah, I mean, it's huge. That's what Kloe does. She's a scrapper. We've seen it all year. She does the right thing when it's needed.

I'm really proud of her. I'm really proud of our guards honestly because I don't get in the position to make that shot if our guards don't go on the run to go down the stretch when it really mattered?

Q. Just complete calm, though, or were you happy with the way the play was called?

MADELYN BRAGG: Yeah, I was really excited, yeah.

Q. Was it a match-up that you felt you had the advantage in?

MADELYN BRAGG: Yeah. I mean, she's a good player for a freshman, but I mean, I just have so much experience over her. I don't really get super nervous. I was a little more nervous than usual this time just because of the way I performed up until that point, but I knew that my coaches were trusting me and I knew that they drew that play up for a reason, so just go out and execute.

Q. It was interesting, because while the review was taking place, the spotlight was on you. You were on the jumbotron doing a little jig. Did you know it was good? No question that you got it off?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Oh, yes.

MADELYN BRAGG: I would never do that. That wasn't me. Yeah, I hoped it was good. I just was really excited. I don't know. I thought it was.

Q. We kind of talked about Kloe, but also, you know, Brooke coming out of the half. Kind of just having that spark. What can you say about her in just her second year?

LEXUS BARGESSER: I mean, I don't know Brooke last year, but she's killing it this year. Our team doesn't run without Brooke on the floor. The way that she just brings energy on both ends of the floor and she's always bringing our moods up throughout the entire game. She's huge. She's been huge for us this whole year.

Yeah, like I said, we need her on the floor, and she executed so well tonight.

Q. I know Coach coming into this game was talking about just everyone is familiar with each other in this conference. You kind of knew what to expect, but just making basketball plays in the moment, kind of how did that kind of come about?

MADELYN BRAGG: Yeah, I mean, they came out way more aggressive than I think we were expecting. The ball pressure early on was a little jarring, but we have six seniors on our team. We know how to perform.

After the third quarter really we adjusted. Our talk at halftime is we need to screen for each other and help each other out. I feel like we improved in the second half, and really in the fourth quarter we got it going. We went small, spaced it out, and our guards performed the way that they needed to.

Q. Like you said, in the second half the defensive adjustment had a really clean fourth quarter. What kind of was the message there?

MADELYN BRAGG: Stop fouling. That's really it.

LEXUS BARGESSER: Yeah.

MADELYN BRAGG: Box out.

Q. What was the change? I know it seemed like you got flustered a little bit in the first half. They switched from man to zone. It seemed like they caught you a little bit off guard. What were you most focused on in the second half as an offense to get going?

LEXUS BARGESSER: Yeah, part of our message at halftime was being focused in on what we needed to do. We weren't executing the way that we had been all season, and that we should have been from the start of that game.

So coming out the second half locked in on what Coach was expecting of us was huge for us.

Q. Coach, just what did you think the differences were from the way the Lopes played from the first two times you saw the, and did the personnel changes in their rotation make them look different?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah, totally. I mean, 4 is a different -- she's a good athlete and she drives the ball really well. We didn't really see a lot of her the first two games. You know, them going small a fair amount with LaMendola at the 5. We saw it more tonight.

I just thought the way they competed tonight and they really pressured the ball, right? They kind of got after the ball. They sped our guards up, especially early in that game. Just we were just couldn't get into what we needed to get into.

I credit their disruptiveness. That was the main difference. Give them a lot of credit. It's hard to beat a team three times in a row, especially a good team. Don't look at their record. That's what I tell our fans. Don't look at Grand Canyon's record. They have talented players. They're very, very good, and they're well-coached.

We're not apologizing for this. This was a good win, because Grand Canyon is a really good basketball team.

Q. Lexus, now looking at it you had 36 minutes played tonight, zero turnovers. How would you describe that pressure?

RYUN WILLIAMS: That's a misprint.

LEXUS BARGESSER: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I had a few (laughing).

Q. That last pass in the last few seconds, we all know just how that kind of situation can go. We've all been on both sides of that. How would you describe that pressure and your elation whether it went in?

LEXUS BARGESSER: I want to be the one making that pass at the end of the game. I feel like mine and Maddie's connectedness throughout the season has gotten so good and so much better throughout the season.

I know that wherever I throw it, Maddie is pretty much going to grab the ball, so I threw it, closed my eyes maybe, and hoped it got there. She got it, so yeah.

THE MODERATOR: I'm going to dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach.

Q. Ryun, how nice was it for you to really be able to get contribution from multiple sources? Nobody really had to be the hero in the fourth quarter. You kind of did it as a team.

RYUN WILLIAMS: Yeah, and we did it as a team on both ends of the floor. It's really nice to get the contribution offensively, the balance that we got tonight. They were all opportunistic. At the right time when we needed something, it was a different kid it seemed like every single time.

They got pretty connected defensively, too. We needed stops in order to get out and run. I thought that was a key, especially in that fourth quarter. We strung some stops together, and we got out in the push. It got us playing downhill. It got us playing aggressive. It got us playing on the attack.

It took us a while to get there, but again, a lot of contributions.

Q. You have multiple options when you've got the ball on an inbound play with 2.2 seconds left. Why was it Maddie? What was it that match-up for you?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Well, time was one thing, right? There was 3 -- or 2. something, 2.2 I think it was. It was basically going to be a catch-and-shoot, maybe a one dribble.

We just wanted to catch as close as we could to the basket. We told Maddie, don't take a dribble, but we just spaced it out. We ran shooters to space it. Maddie, she really can bury some people. She got to that left shoulder, which she's pretty good at.

That's a good moment for Maddie. Just for the young lady. It's really neat to see her smile. It's really neat to see her teammates celebrate her.

I mean, that kid has had a lot going on that a lot of people don't really understand, so I'm really, really proud of her.

Q. What was that wave of emotions like for you, though, on those final two possessions? I mean, there was a beautiful lob that GCU hit to tie that game. Then you have to kind of answer. How do you as a coach -- how did you feel like your team road that wave?

RYUN WILLIAMS: I like how they reset, and that's a word that we use, and our kids have been working on that, believe it or not. So they made a basket to tie it. You've got to reset, right? I'm kicking myself for not having Kramer on the ball, to be honest with you. They shouldn't have made that easy of a pass.

So that's what I was thinking before we drew up that play, but you know, I really liked how our kids never panicked the whole game. I mean, I don't know. It was kind of climbing that mountain made of sand all night long. We just couldn't get a lot of traction going until that fourth.

It's easy to kind of just give up and slide down, but we kept finding a way and got some footing and a lot of winning plays. Not just offensively, but defensively.

Marty's stop was crucial. They went iso with four with Wright, and Marty did a great job of keeping her cushion. She stayed down and kept her feet moving. She didn't go for the counter, and that's what an experienced senior should do.

Q. You kind of mentioned Marty just performing down the stretch defensively. Her and Maddie just seemed to come together and just, I don't know, kind of provided that extra buffer. How did that kind of change the game?

RYUN WILLIAMS: Well, Maddie's size, she's a strong, young lady. We needed that physical presence, so when we called on that late in the fourth, she really delivered. Then Marty, that's her strength. Marty is a very smart basketball player, and she's been with us for four years.

She understands what has to be done in those types of moments. There needs to be communication. There needs to be chemistry, and I thought we switched quite well late. Marty was a big part of that.

Q. In a game where I think both teams combined for 46 trips to the free-throw line, the deep shots weren't really falling for either team, how did that change your game plan?

RYUN WILLIAMS: When we played them in Fort Collins we sent them to the line 22, 23 times maybe. That was a big part of our plan, was just keep them off the line. The way they started that third quarter, I think they got an offensive put-back, and then they went to the foul line eight times there in that third.

It was just we had to quit creating offense for them. I thought as the second half kind of developed we did a better job of that, but, you know, both teams are aggressive, right? Both teams have kids that can get their chin to the rim, and they want to do that.

It's hard to keep that ball in front of you sometimes. But they were aggressive; we were aggressive. Just happened to make one more play than them tonight.