Adia Barnes Interview + Ducks Lead Conference Award Winners

Pac-12 Networks’ Ashley Adamson and Mary Murphy break down the conference award winners and discuss whether Sabrina Ionescu is the best player in conference history (1:15). Mary opines if she sees any snubs in the all-conference teams (5:28) and what her biggest weekend storyline was after spending it in Eugene (6:30).  Ash and Mary discuss Sabrina's speech on Friday after clinching their 3rd straight regular season title (11:05) and what made Kelly choke up (15:26).  They also relive Cal's big win over Arizona (17:45) and the implications the NCAA Top 16 reveal had for the Beavers and Wildcats (20:35).

Arizona head coach Adia Barnes joins the show and discusses the Wildcats' big win over Stanford (23:21) and the letdown that followed vs Cal (26:06).  She talks about her team's ability to stay hungry (29:32) and the school making a case to host in the NCAA Tournament (31:00). Adia praises the Tucson community (31:50) and talks about how easy it was for her to connect to the fans having gone to school at Arizona (33:40).  The Arizona coach speaks of Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Aari McDonald's dominance on both ends of the court (35:40) and makes the case for why the standout junior should return for her senior season (38:22).  Adia wraps the interview previewing the Pac-12 women's tournament in Las Vegas, and reveals who could be an x-factor for the Wildcats (43:05).

Mary and Ash break down the notable tournament matchups (47:32) and Mary picks a team that could make some noise (50:02).  They wrap the podcast discussing if anyone can defeat Oregon (50:51) and Stanford's health leading into the weekend (52:04).

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Yeah, hello, introduce the podcastof the highest Class of Women School Pack
twelve. Look at the rankings ifyou needed to prove numbers never lie either.
Do want speaking the truth? Offto calm the chaos? Who bring
in the passion and the player ofthe year who'll be a crown sham began,
Let's get the cracking. What's happening? And Mary Murphy and actually Adam
saying, yeah we back again.Oh boy, the PAC twelve tournament,

(00:29):
brackett Is said, everybody, theconference awards are in and we also have
a peek into the latest thoughts ofthe NC Double A selection committee after they
release their top sixteen seeds last night. Welcome to officially officially the best month
of the year if you're a collegehoops fan. Absolutely, Is that all
we have? Though? Is that? Yeah? I guess, well,

(00:50):
you know, let me see whatelse is on my last Oh, Edia
Barnes is going to be on theshow. Yeah, she's gonna be so
a lot. I think we havea lot to talk to her about.
But yeah, I'm fired up forthis, you guys. It's it's the
postseason officially, and I can't waitto get this thing going. So we're
gonna get Mary your thoughts on thebracket and a few see who maybe your
dark horses, and find out ifthere's anyone that you think can stop the

(01:10):
steam train that is the Oregon Ducks. And I can't wait to hear about
your weekend in Eugene speaking of that, but we'll start with the news of
the day, Hot off the press. The conference awards are out. Oregon
took home three of the six mainawards. So let's go through the Sabrina
and Escu No drum roll needed.I think everybody knew she was the player
of the year. The question,Mary, is Sabrina the best player in

(01:32):
Pact twelve history? I think wehave to start talking about that. Cheryl
Miller is right up there, theplayer of what the decade, the century.
Cheryl Miller is unbelievable. You talkabout Kelsey Plumlee, sa Leslie Cheney,
Agumackay, Jennifer Rasi, Neka,Candice Wiggins, but when you talk
about Sabrina and how she has evolvedinto an iconic off the floor, on

(01:56):
the floor, what Oregon has doneas this season continue used to roll to
its conclusion, I think that conversationis going to start no doubt about it.
It's hard that we were running outof superlatives. I gotta get my
my dictionary out so to figure outways to keep describing this organ squad on
what they're able to do. Speakingof which, Kelly Graves is your coach
of the Year, Taylor Chavez sixPlayer of the Year, So a couple

(02:16):
more ducks there, Kelly Graves,I think, you know, there are
a lot of people that did greatjob this year, and Idea Barnes is
right up there, you know.I think Tara, with the injuries that
they had, did a superlative job. You know, Mark Track what he
did with what left, what camein. But Kelly Graves, you know,
everyone just thinks if you have alot of talent, you just roll

(02:36):
the ball out and hey, youall have a good time. We're gonna
go win games. That's not howthis happens. You got to coach them.
You gotta get them to work together. They've had an immense number of
distractions and for this team to achievewhat they achieved in the most competitive PAC
twelfth season ever, I think justyou know, your hat, your hat
has to get tipped to Kelly Gravesand the job that he did and his

(02:57):
staff. He's got a terrific staff, phenomenal staff. And again you spent
some time with him this weekend.We're gonna talk about that in a minute.
Ariy McDonald the defensive player of theYear and I guess no surprise there,
Mary, No, I don't thinkso. I think she really this
is what she excels at in theoffensive end really flows out of that defensive
energy. And this is an Arizonateam that defensively, you know, you

(03:19):
look at the numbers, you're like, Wow, they're they're really good.
And they're really good because of Arieand just her energy, her unrelenting work
ethic, her anticipation, her athleticskills. But she just has a great
basketball IQ on the defensive end.Yeah, and I can't wait to get
a Das take on that as well. Coming up. Freshman of the Year
had to be Leisapela. Otherwise Marywas gonna get up on her soapbox.

(03:42):
She's got the fish pump going andeverything. Just so impressed with what she.
You know, and it's similar toRuthie. Talking to Ruthie this weekend,
and you know, when you're you'refrom Alaska and you walk in and
Ruthie talked about this. You walkinto the AU tournaments, they sort of
escort you to the little tiny gymsin the back, like no one is
seeing you. You are not oneof these high profile kids that's sitting in
front of all the big time coaches. And Alyssa Pelee four time Freshman of

(04:08):
the Week, I mean in hershe just started and then the numbers just
kept rolling, impossible to guard insideand outside, just going to get better
and better. She just dystoic whenshe plays. She just goes out there
and takes care of business on anSEC team that had seven or eight players
and everyone's just like throwing the kitchensync at her, and she just goes

(04:28):
out and does her thing. She'sa joy to watch and I can't wait
to see what her future is goingto be like once this great recruiting class
comes in next year. Well said. And then and then, last,
but not least certainly, Mick PivocOregon State the pactual Scholar Athlete of the
Year. And we've talked to manytimes on this podcast about who she is,
and she represents everything that you wanta student athlete to be. There's

(04:48):
just no doubt about that the thirdtime in five years that an Organ State
player has won this award. Ofcourse, Ruth Hamblin and said, wei's
first team All academic last couple ofyears, you know, the three point
nine three working on her master's inbiophysics and biochemistry. Wants to be a
doctor. You know, everything thatMick does on the court and off just

(05:09):
her presence on the floor, howshe has helped this organ State team despite
you know, some of the losses, maintain still in the reveal, still
considered, you know, to havea first and second round and a lot
of that's because of the stability,the strength and who Mick Pivock is well,
said Mary. Were there any surprisesto you or anything that you think

(05:30):
got overlooked? I mean, theseare the awards that are voted on by
the coaches. The media awards willcome out later this week. But it's
hard to second guest coaches because theydo know everything there is to know.
You're a former coach. So yeah, yeah, just because that's I say
that time and cheek a little bit. I think the fact that Ruthie Hubbert
was not on the All Defensive teamis a little bit surprising to me.
It was Lexie Hull, Aery McDonald, Mignon Moore, MICHAELA. Pivoc and

(05:54):
Sam Thomas. And no disrespect toany of those folks, but I just
think the way Hubbard defends inside thatthey can switch and she can guard guards,
and how we act if she isthe passes can't get inside on those
mismatches created by the by the switches. I think Ruthie is an exceptional defender.
Yeah, well said I think.And again, you you wish that
there was more room. And whenyou have a conference like we have and

(06:16):
the depth and the talent, youwish that those you know, you wanted
to mean something, so you understandthat they have to dial them down.
But there's plenty of deserving women whocould have been named to several of those
teams. All right, So Mary, I gotta I gotta hear about your
weekend because um just some kind ofbehind the scenes You spent four days in
Eugene. You called Oregon's final tworegular season games for US on the PAC

(06:36):
twelve network, but you were pullingdouble duty up there. You did about
what ten sit down interviews for US. There were a lot, there were
a lot, There were a lot. You were a good sport and it's
it's part of a two part extendedfeature that we're putting together on Sabrina and
Ruthie for our stories. So Iwant to start with that and then we'll
get into the games. But youknow, what was it like spending time
with not just Sabrina and Ruthie,but but you got to spend time with

(06:57):
their parents as well. And Iknow Kelly raised in my Campell. What
what would you learn? Well,I think what I learned and I'll just
overlay this on everybody in the conference, and that is just that they're just
not basketball players, and we talkabout that all the time. But when
you talk to Ruthie's parents and youtalk to Sabrina's parents, you just really
learn how you become who you areand and they're exceptional human beings. Their

(07:21):
families reflect you know, reflect them, and they reflect their families. And
you know, just a lot offunny stories like why is Sabrina number twenty,
Like I've never really seen anything writtenabout that and her story when we
talked about a little bit on thebroadcast on Sunday, her first au.
They just kind of tossed her thisjersey and it was a number twenty,

(07:41):
and she looked at it like,you know, when you're a kid,
you want a number that like somebodyknows, like, yeah, I'm wearing
Jordan's number, I'm wearing Kobe's notlike somebody like number twenty. Like think
about number twenty. Do you knowany number twenties? Like in any sport,
No, nobody knows the twenty.And so she just was like,
all right, I'll when they giveyou jersey, you just take it.
And I said, well when youyou know, when you have a little

(08:03):
more game and they say, youknow, would you like to change your
number? And it's like no,I'm just going to keep twenty. And
then you look around that arena atall the number twenties. And we really
tried to pay attention to that whenwe were walking around town with Anne shots
and I and like just grown menwearing number twenty Sabrina jerseys, you know,
and little kids, little boys,little girls, moms, just families

(08:26):
with number twenty jerseys, like ohhey, everybody, do you have your
jersey on before you leave the house. That was remarkable to see how much
and the students and ran into somestudents over the course of the weekend and
just said, do you know whydo you have number two? We were
the first ones in line at thebookstore when they came out, like we
like, these are guys, youknow, like soft bars and juniors at

(08:48):
Oregon, and how proudly they wearit. I mean, this is a
different day, and I think wesort of get it. But it is
a tidal wave of change and itreally is starting in Eugene. And I
know we talk about it a lotand people are probably some people are probably
tired of it, but don't gettired. This is a like a revolution
and it's it's it's we're just sortof getting a feel for it. But

(09:09):
it is quite remarkable to sit inarena over twelve thousand people where like there's
thousands, thousands of green jerseys withnumber twenty on them. Number twenty really
means something. Now you know whatwe gotta do? Maybe I'll send you
on this uh scavenger out. Wegotta find the you know whoever the team
manager was that gave her that numbertwenty as a throwaway way back in the
day, and say, did youhave any idea you were making number twenty

(09:31):
going to mean something? And Ithink the other thing is you My favorite
story from the weekend was when wewere talking to Ruthie and she was talking
about, well, you know theurban legend now about when Sabrina showed up
on campus or day like that.We're driving to Oregon and they show up
and she gets out of the carand all the other that great recruiting class
everyone's standing there together as she showsup, and most of them are all

(09:52):
excited, like, oh my god, Sabrina's coming to Oregon. And Ruthie
really had no idea who she wasand was completely unaffected by it and was
just kind of like, oh,who oh, Sabrina Escos is coming and
she's right here, and she waslike, oh, okay, and that's
Sabrina tells a story about well,I'm here, so where am I staying?

(10:13):
Where am I putting my stuff in? The only place that had a
room was Ruthie's room. And youknow, when you go to college,
you want to be the first oneto the room because you grab, you
grab like the corner, you wantthe bed, you like it, check
the mattress, you grab the pillows, you switch everything out. Everyone who's
showed up to a dorm room,oh you know, it's like you want
the closet, you grab the hangarslike I did. There. Weren't they

(10:35):
hangers? My guy? And sothey weren't great friends in the beginning.
I mean, and they've said thatthey didn't even really talk to each other
in the beginning. So to seewhere they are now it's really fun,
is awesome. And when you interviewthem together and for years, this is
ruth you'll just say whatever, whatever, Yeah, she's just not her head
and whatever, Sabrina says. It'sit was a kick. It was a
lot of fun. And we're gonnahear it in a minute. An interview

(10:56):
that you did with them after SeniorDance Sunday that I that I just asolutely
loved, and we heard it againRuthy said, yeah, whatever sab says.
But I do want to dive inreal, real quick before we get
to Sunday. I want to talkabout Friday because both of those days,
both Friday and Sunday, were reallyspecial for organ fans who were in Matt
Night Arena. Friday, obviously thatthe Ducks clinched their third straight Outright Conference
title with that win over Washington State, and afterwards, Sabrina got on the

(11:20):
mic and gave this speech to thecrowd, and you know, she introduced
just this beautiful video of the teamtalking about the day that Kobe Bryant died
and how they came together, andthe background of the video, the cold
Play song Everglow was playing and it'sit's a beautiful song. It's about losing
someone, and the idea of everGlow was sort of this theme of Sabrina's

(11:43):
speech, and it's it's not inthe dictionary if you go and look it
up. But Chris Martin, thelead singer of cold Play, I was
reading an interview from him and hesaid that, you know, he heard
a surfer say this word one timeand he loved it. And basically,
it means it's the feeling after youstop feeling sad. It's that tiny bit
of hope or light that you feelafter you've been through something, the warmth
or happiness that comes with the sadnessyou feel when you think about a relationship,

(12:05):
situation, or friendship that has nowended. And it was just so
poignant to me watching Sabrina deliver thatspeech, watching that video. You know,
they had everyone in the arena.She asked everyone to put their flashlight
on on their phone and they turnedout the lights. Her dad didn't do
it. Man. We got talkedto Dan kept yeah, come on dad,

(12:26):
But you know, just it wasit was incredible and seeing the joy
on Sabrina's face Friday night, youknow, cutting down the nets, celebrating
with their teammates. Her postgame pressconference, she was as happy as I've
ever seen in an interview, andit was it was exactly that. It
was ever glow and Colleen, Iknow you and I talked about it.
You felt the same way that thatcame through on the screen for you.

(12:48):
Yeah. I mean, it's beensuch an emotional rollercoaster and we always talk
about her killer instinct and that lookin her eye and you just want her
to remember the fun and eight timestoo. And that was Friday and Sunday.
I mean that was you know,she she she was so smiley and
it was enjoyful to see. Um. We love the killer instinct, but

(13:11):
I just, you know, itwas nice to see her enjoy the moment
with her best friends. Yeah,And that's exactly what it was. It
was just this pure joy and Ithought it was It was really cool and
I'm glad that we you know,a little behind the scenes shout out to
the powers that be here at thepactrol's network. The decision to stay live
on the broadcast both Friday and Sundayafter the game ended to capture those moments.

(13:31):
I thought was wonderful and pointed,I'm glad that everybody got to see
him that wasn't in the building Sundayafter Senior Day. They get the win
over you, dub and Mary youyou know again. One of the eight
hundred interviews that you did for usthis weekend, this one in particular,
Love we'd snipped off a little bitof it. Let's play it for you
now. You know, it's onething for a community to embrace you,

(13:54):
but for a student section for yourspellow that's who you guys are, your
students here. For them to embraceyou and to fill the stands, that's
really saying something doesn't happen many places. What has that felt like over the
last couple of years. I meanit's continued to grow, you know,
from when we first got here tonot that many students to every single game
the student tickets sell out, andso it's been crazy to see that.

(14:18):
And there's Kelly, I don't thinkyou better get to work. Yeah,
I'm done. You can as areason the same question, Ruth student section.
It's amazing. Thank you student section. Thank you everything expend to walk
around campus and now people know whoyou are and just say a game less
landed. We can't wait to watchingBlade tomorrow. And it's just mental roles.

(14:39):
Walking off the floor for the lasttime together here in a regular season
game. What did that feel like? I mean, it was great.
We don't try and get too emotional. We know our relationship will ask for
the rest of our lives. Butof being able to have four years here
with with her as my best friendand as my teammate, you can't really
put that into words. And weknow we have a lot more games left
to play, but doing the thisone at home tonight together is unimaginable.

(15:03):
Do you want to say whatever shesaid or do you want to what stop
said? There you go away,just like always, Ah, there you
go, there you have it,just like always, Riethie says. Sabrina
said it best. Whatever she says. I love that Miley Cyrus was blaring
in the background. There. Kudosto you Mary for for always knowing kind
of the right questions to ask inthe moment, speaking of which I think

(15:26):
you're the first person in the historyof the world that's made Kelly Grives.
Kelly Graves cry during a game.Yeah, and that was unexpected that halftime
interview. Would you say to him? Well, at halftime for the home
coach, we asked two questions,and when we come back, we only
asked the opposing coach one. Two. Don't have a lot of time,
but I asked a third question,and I just said, so, Kelly,
you've got one half left here tocoach these two. And he literally

(15:50):
stopped. And he's usually glib andhas plenty to say, and he just
kind of stopped. And it's likeyou I hit him with as you know
when you get hit with a snowball, and you're like, way, what
just happened. He just sort ofsaid, yeah, wow, I hadn't
really pondered that one, and Ithink, thanks Mary, he's starting to
ponder it. Yeah, no,and he did. He got he got
choked up right right in the midstof it as he was about to walk

(16:11):
off. So it's there was aton of emotion this weekend and Eugene,
it's a you know, a specialtime they're going to get two more home
games at matt I Arena, certainly, but um, you know, the
end of a regular season and certainlythe end of at least that part of
the chapter. And I think hesaid it too. They want to cut
down four nets this year, sothey've got one down and three to go.
So we'll see what happens. Bythe way, best quote of the

(16:32):
weekend, Yeah, Mary Lou Murphy. Yeah, so my mom has become
a big Oregon fan, which isbizarre. But why is a bizarre?
Well, she just looks at Iwrote all my games on her calendar.
So she's like, oh, you'reyou're in Organ again. Yeah. I'm
like, yeah, I'm in Organ. And she goes, so now she's
following it, like she looks atthe buck score She's so Organ one again.

(16:52):
Yeah. So then she goes,Mary, this Sabrina. She just
says this Sabrina. What? SoI tell her about her and she goes,
So, I was just wondering,is she as good as you were?
I don't mean to laugh that hard, because I know you were good.
I was a Way Trophy finalist,but you don't want to laugh at
your mother. So she's like,I go Mom, She's just so much

(17:15):
better. She was really mom,Yeah are the best. Oh my god,
man, moms are the best.Sabrina as I like it's it's within
the conversation. I'd say, it'swell, we'll have that debate for another
podcast. We're not going to circleback to that mom. Um. Okay,

(17:37):
we've got Ada coming on in justa couple of minutes. So before
before we talk about, you know, talk with her and talk about what
we saw and two son this weekend. I want to just get your your
thoughts Mary. So Arizona, youknow, obviously, they go out and
get their first top five win inprogram history by upsetting Stanford Area. Was
just absolutely clutch in the final moments. And then a couple days later they
go out and and they get beaton Senior Day by the last place team

(18:00):
in the league. And Adia isgoing to talk about what happened on the
Arizona side of things. I wantto talk about Sharman Smith and these Colberts
because to me that that is thereal story. It's it's been a tough
year. They could have mailed itin, and instead they just keep working
and working and working. They comeout hungry and they get rewarded your first
road win over a ranked opponent infive years. This group that you know,

(18:21):
they don't have a long bench,they've had injuries, they've had all
things going on, you know.And I talked to mc barrett there they're
sid yesterday and she just said,look, we doesn't matter what happens on
Friday. There are three wins thisyear in conference play, all on the
road, all on Sunday. Thatspeaks to the character of this team.

(18:41):
C J West can tie, canwin this game, misses both free throws
and out of nowhere, just puttingsome wings on Jelen Brown just rips that
rebound and puts it in. Andwhat's that that? Just having having your
teammates back like it doesn't matter.I got you, We're gonna win this.
And they run to the locker roomafter they win this game, and

(19:02):
she said, chen Yua says,I'm going to be the I'll be the
videographer. Give me a phone,give me a phone. I went,
because she's so tall, you know, at six to seven. So she
gets it and income Scharman and whatdoes every coach hate? What happens when
you walk in the locker room.Charlie Turner Thorne, same thing after their
amazing weekend. You know the water'scoming, so they all have cups of

(19:22):
water. The older players are allin the back because you know, the
freshman like they don't care if Scharman'shere, but the older ones are like,
oh, Man, Charman's gonna beticked off at this. And they
all start jumping up and down.And then you see Sharman's hands and you
see Sharmon's loving just going absolutely crazy, joy personified. And I love the
tweet by Michelle Vopal. How goodis the PAC twelve? We just saw

(19:45):
last place cow woman's basketball get theupset of Arizone on the road two days
after the Wildcats beat Stanford. Kudosto caw. Would have been easy to
give up on the season, butthe Bears kept working and we're rewarded today.
Next year, this great class comingin. Well, what does it
say to the world that your lastplace team on that last Sunday? I
feel bad saying last place when youknow those players, and you know Sharman,

(20:07):
they don't walk and talk like alast place team. Well, and
I'm just glad that that is thenarrative and it should be the narrative married
because it wasn't that Arizona laden egg. It was that this conference is that
good and that Cal rose up andgot a huge win on Senior Day in
Tucson and played spoiler, and youknow, it was just hats off to
Charmon Smith, Jazzy Green, hugeoff the bench, Jesse and obviously it

(20:30):
was a It was a tough lossfor the Wildcats. I mentioned that it
was senior Day. But the goodnews is that as of now, it
looks like it didn't cost him anopportunity to host the NCAA tournament. The
selection committee came out with their topsixteen seeds last night. The Wildcats sitting
there at number fourteen and would bethe if the tournament started to day,
they'd be the four seed in theFort Wayne Regional. And as you look
down the line, so just likethe their first reveal, five PAC twelve

(20:53):
teams are in the top sixteen.That's the most for any conference in the
country. I think it was Bigten is next. Let me see,
I've got these notes somewhere. Wheredid it go? That's correct? Yeah,
so the Big ten is next,and yeah, they've got Maryland and
Northwestern in Iowa. So they've gotthree. So it just we've been talking
about the depth. I know we'rebanging the drum, but it was it

(21:15):
was awesome to see an Oregon stillsitting there at number three, so they
would be the number one seed inPortland, which is the most important thing.
But do you think it matters toanyone that Oregon is three and that
South Carolina and Baylor are one two. I think it matters to Kelly Graves
his staff, and I think itmatters to Oregon. So if it matters
to them, it should matter tous. I think they have higher aspirations.
They're not satisfied with the number three. They want to move on up.

(21:37):
So you got Oregon at three,Stanford at seven, Ucla at eight,
Arizona at fourteen, and Oregon Stateright now would be hosting their number
fifteen as as a four seed awesomein the Greenville regionals. So it's it's
really exciting times. It is awesome. And again I said this to you
guys for the podcast start. Ifelt like with the Beavers, they they've

(21:57):
had a couple of losses this year, hasn't been the same team that we've
seen in the last three years.That's been, you know, really dominant
in the conversation for one of thosetop four seeds and the conference title.
But here they are one of thetop fifteen teams in the country and getting
ready to host at gil Coliseum.And we all know what a home court
advantage that is. Yeah, andthink about the tournament you play. They

(22:18):
play Washington State and then if theywin that game, they will play Stanford
Tournament. Get ready, it's gonnait's gonna be good. It's gonna be
very interesting. Yeah, wild Sowe have five teams on pace to host
the first two rounds of the NCDouble A Tournament. I can only imagine
the scene at McHale if that doesindeed come to fruition for Arizona. So,

(22:38):
without further ado, we've got thehead coach of the Arizona Wildcats on
the line, the one and onlyAdia Barnes coach. Has your morning.
It's great, always good when we'retraveling, you know that is? I
do, I do know how thatis. So you're packing your bags because
you guys are heading to Vegas today. Actually we are heading to Vegas hitting
two show and the fun we'll begin, Yeah, no doubt about it.

(23:00):
All right, Well, We're goingto talk about Vegas and the show and
everything you got planned coming up,but I first want to talk about your
weekend and dive into that and andwhat you saw from your team. Well,
we'll start with Friday, that epicovertime win over Stanford. Mary and
I were just talking about it,your first top five win in program history,
five players and double figures, AeronMcDonald nails down the stretch. What

(23:21):
specifically did you see from your squadthat night that you loved. I saw
the same sense of urgency that Isaw we are at Texas and I saw
at home against UCLA. They weredialed in focus, the feeling we're not
going to lose this game regardless.That's just kind of how the feeling was
the entire game, and it startedfor more mouths. You know. It

(23:41):
was interesting after the game in thepostgame press conference, Taaras said that she
will vote for you. She believesyou are the PECT twelve coach of the
year, just what a phenomenal jobyou've done. And she even used the
words it's kind of fun to watchwhat Ada has done. What does it
mean to have those words spoken byTara? I mean by Tara, it

(24:03):
means the world. I have somuch respect for her on so many different
levels. I mean, she's theone that's always given me advice when I
was an assistant coach, as ahead coach, whether it's constructive, everything,
because I've known her a long time, so I love everything about her
what she does, and I thinkthat she is so rare because it's it's
one thing to be easy and tobe extremely successful, but to maintain a

(24:25):
success for you know, three decades, it's really unheard of, and I
don't think it'll happen nowadays. Youknow, there's a few. There's obviously
Dino her, there was Pat Summit, a Muffett, you know, Kim
Mulki, but I think that's justsuch a small group. So for me,
it's awesome that SE's in the PACtwelve and and just the compliments from
her, they just mean more becauseof who it's from. And I respect

(24:47):
her so much. And India justput things in perspective. A year ago,
that trip to the Bay Area atthe end of the season, and
how close you came at cal howclose you came at Stanford, and those
two close losses may be called theability to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Did that make it even more sweeton Friday? Yeah? You know,
it's funny because I forget that stuff, Like I just I'm so in the

(25:10):
moments. I remember, yes,like that could have been it, But
I felt like there were so manygames that could have helped us. I
felt like the Washington trip is reallywhat solidified not getting in the tournament.
But I think that I just knowthat we had a chance, and I
thought that we could have got towin there in Stanford. Don't know if
that don't happen, ever happened again. Yeah, so I think just playing

(25:33):
well at home. I didn't evenknow it was our first top five win
in our program because I would havethought that Joane would have done it many
times. Um, So a lotof stuff I find out after I'm just
in the moment and like focused onthe game. But honestly, this week,
the hard thing for me is thatwas such a great moment on Friday
and it was such a bad momenton Sunday. It's like took away the
beauty of Friday. So like,now I forgot about Friday, do you

(25:56):
know what I mean? Yeah,I mean I think that obviously makes sense
and let's I'd love to get yourthoughts on Sunday and kind of what happened.
You know, give all the creditin the world to the Bears for
the way they came out and playedand hung tough, But walk me through
what you saw. Was it?You know, on the outside, it'd
be easy to say it was aclassic case of a letdown after a big
win, or was there something elseat play? Well, the funny thing

(26:18):
is we hadn't done that in thepast, so I didn't think we were
going to do that. I knewgoing into the weekend. I knew that
Friday if we you know, ifwe wanted to be great, so we
didn't. It's something in the world. But I knew how important Sunday was,
and so I really tried to notoverlook Sunday at all, really had
them focused prepared. We usually don'tdo that morning shoot around. We did

(26:41):
it that morning. We've only donea few times like in situations like this,
and I just felt like we cameout extremely lack of daisical. We
came out with no mental focus,and I don't know why that happened.
I do understand the big game,the letdown, but that's not what we've
done in the past. I feltlike we made so many mistakes and we
could have had so many excuses.I didn't want to make excises. Wasn't

(27:03):
the referee. I think if weplayed better, the referees wouldn't be a
factor. So all of these things, I just felt like, We're not
used that team that does make theexcuses this and that, and I felt
like everybody just kind of was doingstuff that we don't do. And so
I was just more disappointed, notthe fact that we lost, disappointed that
we never found that fire and wenever really sought back, and you know,

(27:26):
that was a similar thing in Colorado. So just disappointed that and didn't
know why that happened. What wasthe conversation with your team afterwards? And
I imagine it was, you know, that senior Day celebration. My heart
went out to you know, toyour players, because obviously you want that
moment to be just a celebratory moment, and they I'm sure they weren't feeling
too good after the loss, Sowhat how did you handle it? After

(27:48):
the game. We just talked aboutjust like these mental mistakes can't happen,
and we talked about a lot ofmental mistakes throughout the game. I mean,
we've never fouled four jump shooters.We had three fouls on three point
shots. Whether they were a fouleror not, that's beside the point,
because when you know what it's beingcalled, you have to adjust to the
player, and we never had thatmental focus to adjust. And so I

(28:11):
just talked about just you know,the opportunity we had and that can't happen
moving forward because it's going to getharder from here, and you know the
stuff that we've been talking about,Like I really think what solidified the game
was the rebound altafreto line, andthat's a mental focus that as a team
that's locked in, you don't letthat happen. Against Stanford, we wouldn't

(28:32):
let that happen. And it couldhave been two stronger players, but I
think just the focus wasn't there.So letting those things happen, you lose
the game. And I said wedidn't deserve to win. Cal came and
punched us in the face. Butthe situations were similar. When we played
Stanford. We had nothing to lose. We just went on playing as we
last didn't matter, and that's thesame thing Cow did and they came in
and kicked our butts and they getall the credit in the world because they

(28:53):
did it to us. But India, this is really part of your process,
isn't it. Because you guys werecal, You have been Charman,
You've been in that position, andnow the script because of your success in
what you guys have built, hasflipped. And now that Cal team comes
in and they're like, they're sohungry, just like you got, you
know. So it's to me I'mwatching you guys and saying, maybe this

(29:17):
will be a good thing because ifthis was an NCA game, you'd be
like, my god, look whatwe let slip away. So this is
something you guys can continue to lookback on and learn from. Like right
now, does it? Is therea way to spin it in a positive
way? Yeah? I think forsure this will be a learning experience.
I think that we will not playwith that intensity. And the funny thing
is is we're still hungry. That'sthe way we play, That's who we

(29:41):
are. So the letdown was adisappointment because of that. You know,
we fight, we don't give up, we're aggressive, we you know,
we play with pride and Steven Ithought I thought that the hard thing is
the motivation in itself should be playingfor your seniors. And I felt like
just there were so many emotions,and you know, it's funny. I
talked to Joan and Luda also anda lot of them have lost on games

(30:03):
like this, because that was prettyupsetting. It was just hurt. This
game hurt a little bit more,but for me it was also you know,
it was a bad feeling, probablyone of the worst feelings so far
since I've been a head coach here. Yeah, no, I'm I'm sure.
And obviously again it can be agood motivation now that we're in the
month of March, and next timeyou lose, you know, that's that's
the end of it, certainly afterVegas and the NCAA tournament. The good

(30:26):
news is, though, is thatthe NC double A Committee came out last
night. We were just talking aboutthis and has you guys as the fourteen
overall seeds still. So I knowhow much getting to host the first rounds
of the NC doable A tournament meansto you, means to this program,
means to this community. And Iwas reading the other day an interesting article
idea about how you know you andDave Hickey and all the great people in
the airs and athletic department have beenputting together sort of a case to host,

(30:48):
and I didn't realize that that waspart of it. It was like,
if you're just a top sixteen seed, I assumed that that would be
it. So can you just kindof give us behind the scenes what goes
into that process or what what hasto happen for you guys to be able
to host. Yeah, I'm actuallynot sure. Um, I didn't know
you put in a case. UM. I knew that they were working.
I thought that if they know you'reyou know, possibility. I think you
just prevent like present like a package. Um, just monetarily. I don't

(31:12):
know about what else goes on becauseI haven't been involved in that. Our
administration has. Remember this is territorythat we haven't been in sixteen years.
So I think, Um, Ithink it's the excitement for the city and
we have momentum. So I thinkus hosting its shoos because we have the
capability of selling out, so westill have business take care. We got
to play well in the Pactall Tournament. But when I heard there was a

(31:34):
possibility for us to host Um,I was just excited for this city and
just we're leaving an imprint doing somespecials. Yeah, leaving your legacy,
which is what you talk a lotabout. What's your sense of Arizona women's
basketball in the Tucson community right Nowada, It's amazing. UM came out yesterday.
We're number two in attendance in thePact FALLS, which is amazing for

(31:56):
just our program. Um. Youknow, when I got here, there's
probably some hundred fans per game.My second year there was five hundred.
My third year, we did acampaign to get a thousand season ticket holders.
So just to see how it's evolvedand grown. And I know winning
at you know leads to that.See when games where people come, I
get that. But we have hadso many loyal followers, so many that

(32:17):
were followers when I'm fans and Iwas a player. And it's funny because
even my radio so it started withlike thirty forty people, which was pretty
good for you know where we werein the program, and now O there's
like two hundred and fifty. Sopeople are just excited, they're loving women's
basketball. They you know, wehad a celebration my last radio so last

(32:37):
night with all the team there andthe staff and just the things they say
in the past and they have forus, and how many of them are
going to follow us the backfill tournament. It was really awesome to see how
we've bonded with this community. We'vecreated relationships and they follow us and they're
so excited about what we're doing.And well, the moment it stuck with
me is we played awful against cowWe lost senior celebration. No one really

(33:00):
left, they were all standing.They still they chanted Arizona after and I
think they all knew we were defeated, but they still had our backs room.
So I addressed them and appreciated them. And this city is just amazing.
And the one thing that you've donesuch a great job of is your
ability to use social media to youknow, cheer on your team, but

(33:22):
to reach out into your community andbring them closer. And that is that
just part of who you are?Or did you did you learn to do
that? Or how is your connectionto social and your connection to your fans
and the synergy created, How doesthat come about? I think that it's
just natural to me. I thinkit's easy for me here because this was

(33:44):
my college and so it's all thefoundations started to hear from me, But
I don't it's not really a plan. I just kind of like it started
the n I t I was justgetting the numbers some people, and so
I would tweet it out. Ihonestly didn't even think that people would pay
attention because I felt like a lotof our fans weren't even on Twitter,
right because it's the auto crowd.They're on like Facebook and email. Um,

(34:06):
so I didn't really know. Andthen people would like they were tweeting
back, they were like yeah,other people were getting on board, say
we're gonna help. So I thoughtthat was pretty fun. It wasn't.
It was fun. And so thisyear when I've called a certain number,
we've always received that number. Sofor me, it was just, um,
it's an easy thing to tweet andbe like let's go in two sounds
like yeah, and they're all soexcited. So it's it's fun. It's

(34:28):
a I don't know, it's notanything I'm doing the toss and I don't
know how it came about. Itjust kind of happened. Well, you're
you're you're certainly good at it.And again it's it's been awesome to see
just then. We've talked about ita lot on this podcast and on the
Pactrol Network. Just the love andthe energy and the fire that's coming from
the support for you guys's program.It's well deserved and it's it's been cool
to watch. I got to askyou about Aery McDonald's um just came out

(34:50):
today, gave Defensive Player of theYear for the conference, and I'm so
glad because she obviously gets a lotof recognition for what she does offensively.
I think it's like a million straightgame in double figures or something like that.
I don't have to stack out,but you know what, maybe just
your your reaction to her winning that. And have you ever coached or been
around a player who was so goodand committed to both ends of the floor.

(35:12):
Um No, I haven't, andI've never heard someone like her.
She's so fast and there's so manythings instinctually, um no. But I
love the fact he's dominant on bothends. I think that makes a great
player. And he's so fast andquick. It's just like sometimes he makes
feels or plays. I'm like,I don't know how she did that,
And I think her grittiness and herheart and her past. And also there's

(35:32):
times when she's diving on the floor, she's humbling that he's dribbled up and
gets the ball. It just ignitesour team. It makes everybody around her
want to play harder defense and justbe tougher and stronger and more passionate.
And I love the fact that he'sevolved into that. That wasn't she was
a good defender, but it wasn'tsomething like she took pride in to lock

(35:53):
someone down. But that's kind ofcame with the identity of our defense and
our team and he's been the catfor that. You know, we talk
about um Arian what a great defendershe is, but it doesn't feel like
Sam Thomas gets any respect, likewhen you talk about great defenders in this
conference. And I have to tellyou adia watching her play, it just

(36:14):
it just it's like something that popsoff your TV or pops off this you
know, when you're watching her inperson. Just she just turned into superwoman.
To me. Uh, the impactthat she has on your team on
both ends is just it's just reallyunderappreciated. It feels like it is extremely
underappreciated. It's overlooked. It's umI'm glad this year she finally is getting

(36:36):
the recognition because she is one ofour best defenders. She is one of
the most consistent, one of thesmartest in the right place at the right
time. I think a lot oftimes it is miss because it's not flashy,
or it's not a lot of timerunning to the past laye to get
a layout. It's leading to thatfor someone of her teammates. It's the
deflection her block that she gets thepast the air, or it's the best

(37:00):
players she locks down and holds asingle digits, but she does that nine
in a night out and he's oneof a few players at her sides.
She has over forty blocks and fortysteals. I think it's like forty four
now or forty seven. I don'tknow the exact number, but that's remarkable.
As he's five eleven, she continuesto block jump shooters without fouling.

(37:21):
She just is phenomenal. Without her, we do not have the number of
Pac twelve defense at all. Evenwith Aria so like she is, they're
great for each other. They complimenteach other and they're just both phenomenal defenders.
But Katie I mean, but Samis definitely overlooked. And I'm assuming
that that Sam's pretty fired up becauseif I'm not mistaken, she's from Las
Vegas, right, Yes she is, so still probably have some two people

(37:44):
at the game. She's really firedup. And then both of her sisters
play at un and LB. Ilove that. So yeah, good part
of the years on a chain.Section it out for you guys. One
last thing for me on Aria atleast. And we talked earlier on one
of our shows, and you gavea great answer, And I make sure
that the listeners of this podcast areable to hear your insight. You know,
she has one year of eligibility left. She'll graduate this spring, but

(38:06):
she took part in senior day ceremonieswith the understanding that she hasn't made a
final decision about her future and whetheror not she'll come back and stay in
Tucson for one more year. So, just from the conversations you've had with
her, what's your feeling on whereshe stands right now? And I know
you guys go back a long timeand she trusts you. What's your advice
to her? Coach? Well,I don't really talk to her a lot

(38:27):
about it, just because I wanther to make her own decision without pressure
of anything, and I want herto off the focus in the moment.
I think it's more important that shefocuses right now and she doesn't have to
make a decision right now. Thereis no pressure to do that. No
one's think out to the side bytomorrow. So I want her to disenjoy
what she has. You know,she you know, was banged up a
little bit. I think that wasa little discouraging, but everybody's starting to

(38:47):
mask her now. I knew sheplanned on walking the whole year, so
that I think that was a surpriseof some people, not to me,
because he wanted to walk with thosekids she sat out with and she has
a bond with so I totally gotthat. Like TC walked last year,
walks again this year, so forus, that was kind of what we
do as normal. She's gonna makeher decision at the end of the year,
and like my advice to her isnot for me, but for her

(39:08):
and her growth in her future.I think she should say another year,
you know, I think that wehave a lot of unfinished business. Next
year we're gonna be even better.We're adding a couple pieces, and you
know, when Shana comes in seeingan Arie and Sam, we would be
one of the best backwards in thecountry. So you know, I think
we can have a chance to gointo a final four our championship if we

(39:30):
have these right pieces and everybody's healthy. So I think for her more of
a reason to come back. Theother thing, in most of the top
picks in our conference, they're fromthe back twalve. So like the top
five picks, there's there's a fewright down the road, you know in
Oregan. So for her to comeback the one of the best point guards
in the country, one of thebest in the back swallves, her stock

(39:52):
will only ride, which means inthe end, more marketing and more of
a probability of making a team.And there are some things that area and
grows. You has to grow,um, you know, like to be
a point guard in the w NBA, you gotta be really effi effishing from
the three mid raining game. Yougotta be a vocal leader. So those
are things that you can only getbetter in staying the year. So you

(40:13):
know a lot of my friends arethe ones that are trying to draft her.
Well, I'm like It's kind ofone of those bitter sweet things like
back up. You know, likethere are some people that are like in
my wedding, they are trying todrafted and so you know, I don't
talk to them a lot about itthough, because it's kind of like I
want to her to make her decisionsbest for her. But that's my advice
to her. You know, adeal when we look at your program and

(40:34):
we've talked you guys will pick sixin the coaches in the media pool,
and to finish where you finished,and you know, you don't have to
be there a day early. You'reyou're playing on Friday in the toughest season
that the PAC twelve has ever had, you know, six teams in the
in the top thirty RPI. What'syour sense of accomplishment just as you sit

(40:55):
here today and what you guys havebeen able to do well. And that's
one of things I had to reflectupon. I was so upset last week,
and you know, I was kindof like wow. But then I
sat and I told I told thatfor the people that m ragos yesterday that
I said, none of us inthis room thought that we'd be ranked at
one point eleven. I think we'reyeah, we're thirteenth now, I said,
no one in this room thought that. We all thought it was gonna

(41:19):
be a talent to finish six Ihonestly thought, like, okay, we've
been a sixth to be hard,and so for us to be in this
situation, for us to have abye, for us to have a chance
to host, we've done amazing thingsand we've overachieved what anybody thought. You
know. One lady raised her hand, she's like, I thought that.
I was like, well, you'rethe only one. And I was like,
we love you. But but Iwas like, because I didn't even

(41:39):
think that. So I thought maybetop twenty five, but I didn't think
we'd be like at, you know, top eleven thirteen for two months.
So I think what we've done,it's been amazing. And honestly, if
you look at our personnel, wedo have areas to a car, but
you look at our personnel, everybodyelse in this situation that's two or three
stars and so, and we havelike one of the best defensive teams.

(42:01):
If you look at our personnel,we don't have the personnel for that.
So to accomplish all those things,to be um just doing what we're doing.
It's remarkable and I do have toreflect what I'm upset about something.
I do reflect on that and fromwhere we're at, I mean, I
didn't think we'd have eight thousand fansper game in the Kale this year.
I really did not. I thoughtmaybe four or five. So it's been

(42:23):
amazing. Um, they should allbe proud and that, and I told
them so. But now we havework to do. Now, let's go
do something special again. It's anotherseason right now. I love the big
picture perspective idea, and I knowit's it's hard to do in your profession,
and I appreciate that that you're ableare able to pull out and appreciate
it. You guys have the mostconference wins in sixteen years, an opening

(42:44):
round by in the tournament for thefirst time since twenty and eleven. I've
got two more for you. Oneis, you know, we always talk
about the X factor for teams inthe postseason, and usually there's players that
step up that maybe you weren't expectingto. If you're going to go out
and win big games and get someupsets and make a deep run, you
planning on. So we've talked aboutArie and I know we mentioned Sam,
but give me sense, who's theplayer that you think we'll be talking about

(43:06):
on your team this postseason, who'smaybe really poised to step up in March.
Well, I think there's a coupleof players. So I think Kate
rees Um. Kate Rea has hada good season. I think the last
couple of weeks she's struggled a littlebit, but there's you know, there's
a lot of different reasons that she'salso young. Um, I think Kate
Reaches is really going to step up. I think she has the capability,

(43:27):
she has the mentality, and weneed her like if she didn't step up,
it's gonna be just go for us. The other person is I think
one of the X factors is DominiqueMcBride. Um. In big games that
we've really need to win, andeven against Stanford, you saw at one
point she had eleven, eleven orthirteen points at one point. Um,
we really need her in a majorway. She's one of our best post

(43:51):
defenders. She's one of our smartestplayers on the floor. She's like the
floor general from the post position.So um, she helps our posts in
the right she taught she's a communicatoron the floor when we play well and
we went she's on points and so, um, she's gonna be someone that
has to so over senior leadership andshe's got to step up for us.

(44:13):
I was just scribbling Pueyo Uayo quayo. Mary's got her eye on Holna Puayo.
Yeah boy yo too. She's importantbecause she's our most consistent player off
the bench. And she's a greatshooter. You know, she's just a
freshman, so she's hot and coldsometimes, which is normal, but um,
she's just so skilled. She's gota great three point shot. She's

(44:34):
a tremendous pastor, and so weneed you're coming in him threes and like
helping our offense off the bench.She's not a freshman anymore. Coach,
it's the postseason. Yeah yeah,all right, Well I know that I
know that you're packing up you andyou're getting you and your four and half
year old son mateo ready to headto Vegas. What do you do with
a four and a half year oldson in Vegas? By the way,

(44:55):
see you well, I trobat,we probably with someone with us. So
um, she's got like they're goingto the loo and all kinds of amusement
parks and stuff. And we havesome other friends that are coming with kids,
so he's gonna have a lot offun. He's not going to Blueman
Group. It's too late fast atthat time, but we have planning for
him because I would be so busy. Yeah, that was gonna be my
last thing. So you guys youjust mentioned it. You're going to Blueman

(45:16):
Group tonight. I think it's absolutelyawesome because a lot of times, you
know, in the postseason, everybodykind of gets more tense and and everybody's
strung so tight. And you're goingin tonight to Vegas and taking them the
Blueman Group. How did you?How did that come together? Yeah?
I'm not like that, so Idon't change. I don't change what we
do because I think that's when thingsget more stressful and tougher. I think

(45:39):
I obviously wouldn't do the night beforegame or something, but we're in early.
I thought, let's do something it'sfun as a team, and I
we always do that. That's likeour team, Like everybody was over here
Saturday night. Um, that's whowe are and that's the reasons why we
have such a good culture. Sowe don't treat any game differently. We
just do what we do, andI think that's one of the reasons why

(45:59):
we've been pretty consist Yeah, there'sno doubt you've been consistent all season long,
and we are excited to see howthis postseason plays out for you,
Dia. I did want to giveyou a heads up our phenomenal hair and
makeup person, Alex, who Iknow you know and love it. She's
going to be in Vegas all week, so if you want to, yeah,

(46:20):
I'll send you a schedule and we'llmake sure that that you've got time.
Not that you need it, becauseyou always look like I love best
of anyone, but I know youlove her so and the feeling is totally
mutual, all right, Ada Barnes. Friday, March six, on the
Pactrol Network, you guys will facethe winner of cal or Asu. It's
the first game of the day,eleven thirty am Pacific time. We cannot
wait. We cannot wait. Havea blast tonight, a Blue Man group.
I hope it's better than the medievaldinner you took your team to a

(46:43):
little while ago. Thanks so muchfor your time, a deal. We
appreciate you. Thank you. Goodvice. Always always great to catch up
with the Dia Barnes. She's oneof the real ones. Mary. She
isn't win a jomp. She's doingum. It's just remarkable how quickly this
program is taken off. Certainly havinga player like Arie makes all the difference

(47:04):
in the world. But boy toCoalessa an entire community or just rally around
her team, it's it's a blastto go down there, and it's a
whole lot of fun to watch thisteam play. How about that she's got
some former bridesmaids trying to get herto come to the UNVA. That made
me laugh. She might be thefirst one to ever make that statement.
Yes, I would agree. Allright, We appreciated DA's time and are
looking forward to seeing her in Vegas. Let's talk about Vegas before we let

(47:30):
everyone go. The Pact twelve Woman'sBasketball Tournament, presented by New York Life.
We're going to have ten of theeleven games for you on the PAC
twelve networks, so be sure todownload your Pact twelve now apps so you
can wash them all at work.It starts again as we mentioned, eleven
thirty am on Thursday, and Marylooking at the bracket, so I just
want to take me through this.So I mentioned ASU Cal is the first

(47:50):
game, Utah Washington, the twoo'clock game, USC Colorado the first game
of the night session, and thenOregon State Washington State the sixth eleven matchup
in the nightcap. So looking atthat, you'd tell me the day one
matchup that's most intriguing to you iswhat Well, I think it's much like
the NSA tournament. The five totwelve is really just pops for me.
Arizona State and Cal. They justplayed this past weekend. CAL lost Arizona

(48:17):
State by twenty three points and theyturn around and they beat Arizona, So
I think that this is a dangerousCAL team. We're not sure the status
of Kiki Russell with ASU, andshe definitely makes a difference for them.
So I think that that that isthe game. We're starting the day off
with a game that I'm very fascinatedto watch because no matter what you move
on to the next day, ASUArizona in the second round will be will

(48:43):
be unbelievable. You have a beatASU twice, but they were both close
fifty eight fifty three and fifty ninefifty three and so you get you know,
the duel and the desert in anotherdesert location would be amazing. Or
if cal moves on to play Arizona, wow, that it'll be I and
it's that one just really jumps offthe page for me. Yeah, no

(49:05):
doubt about it. And to me, you know, I don't know,
maybe I shouldn't feel this way,but it feels like UCLA kind of stuck
up as the two seed um andso they're sitting there on the two line.
They'll they'll play the winner of USCand Colorado. Corey Close said after
their their game this weekend that thattheir best basketball is still ahead of them.
Do you do you agree with that? I do, But even that

(49:25):
that's their first game on Friday couldbe amazing. You know, Colorado certainly
has played very well against UCLA,and then if you get a USC Ucla
with way Peelye's playing, I don'tWe're still wondering if June's going to be
able to come back. That they'resaying good things about her availability, so
Friday could be absolutely epic. Ithink UCLA needs to start getting consistent,

(49:50):
playing better and putting their best footforward consistently as their role from here to
the end of the season dark horsefavorite. And I know I'm not asking
you to pick somebody who's gonna,you know, make the run and win
four and four days. But isthere a team like Washington last year came
out and won a couple of gamesas the eleventh seed and you know,
made some history and shook things upas you look there anybody you think that

(50:14):
we should have our eye on thatthat could maybe make a little bit of
a run and surprising people. IfI start on Thursday and say, what
team do I think could could wintwo games and make a maybe three games?
Would be organ State. Yeah,I just think they've sort of centered
themselves, you know, the lossof Kennedy Brown And Okay, that's out
of the way. Now what dowe need to do to win ball games?

(50:34):
They have to shoot the ball extremelywell. Destiny Slocum is playing great,
Nick Pivos. I mean, theyall just have to have Leah Goodman.
They got to get out there,stay out of foul trouble. But
can they do it? Yeah?They can. They can definitely have a
pretty sweet run here. Okay,finally, last question for you, Mary,
can anyone beat Oregon? Like whois best positioned to possibly have the

(50:57):
not only the personnel obviously, butjust the path to beat Oregon. Who
do you think it is? Nobody. I don't think anybody does. I
think they're playing that well. Ithink that Oregon is a team that is
hungry, which is interesting to say, isn't it. Because they've won three
straight regular seasons. They know they'rea number one seed. They're just gonna

(51:20):
just let hey, let's just goout and do us. But I think
they're hungry remarkably Sometimes for a seniordominated team, they feel pressure. You
feel tense because, oh my god, this is the last time for everything
you have. No I have nosense of that. Everyone's talked about how
they seem to be loose, havingfun, and I really do believe that
that's where they're at. They're enjoyingplaying each other. They're healthy. A

(51:40):
year ago, Ruthie was not healthywith that leg, and Taylor Schabez was
not playing in the Pac twelve tournament. She's healthy, They've got Jess Shelley.
This is a vastly improved team froma year ago, and the impact
that Mignon Moore has on defense.Talking to Jody Winn from from Washington,
she goes, You know, Mary, last year you just felt like if

(52:00):
you could score enough points, youcould beat them. That's not the way
you can approach. You cannot approachorgan like that anymore. They stop you.
Like when Minyon war gets going andTaylor Schabez gets going, You're just
like, oh wow, getting intoyour offense is a lot tougher. It
used to be. Just like intoyour offense, you go, We're not
going to do anything to stop you. We're just gonna try to, you
know, you know, avoid contact. It's a whole new organ team on

(52:22):
the defensive end. They're ready,they're prepared, they want their moment with
destiny. And it's been a longtime since a PAC twelve team has won
the national championship, and this isone of the steps they have to take
to get there. Yeah, ninetytwo, Stanford was the last one.
And you know what's interesting, Wegot to mention Stanford in this conversation because

(52:43):
I was looking at some notes gettingready for the tournament, and I guess
I knew this, but I hadforgotten. So the pactual tournament started in
two thousand and two. Stanford isthe only team that has won it more
than once. They have won itthirteen times. Everybody else who's won it
so asu you know two Oregon Statetwenty sixteen, UCLA in two thousand and
six, usc in twenty fourteen,and then Oregon and twenty eighteen. Those

(53:05):
teams have all won it, butonly once. And that that was just
for some reason, really remarkable tome. And what's the common denominator?
Tara Vandevier. This is tournament time. She takes it up a notch.
This is still a somewhat young Stanfordteam. Fran believe he had an amazing
weekend. Maya dots In is backin the lineup and really solidifying things.
But if you think about Maya,it's like October for her. She's not

(53:29):
in March form. So every dayStanford's going to be an improved team.
And whether that you know, howeverthat far they go in this tournament,
then the preparation, all that timebefore the NCAA tournament, Stanford's going to
be a much better team when theNCAA tournament starts than they are right now.
But they're on an upward They're onan upward move, I really believe,

(53:49):
and you know, fram playing wellpractical, didn't play a lot this
weekend, but you know she's thereand everything that she can do. Stanford
is someone you never can take youreye off. That is so true,
especial when it comes tournament time.I remember you've talked about Tara, the
difference between her and November, andthe differences come March and tournament time.
Colleen, what do you got forus anything? Here? What's the most
unpredictable prediction you're willing to make forthe tournament? Unpredictable? So is that

(54:15):
like a bold prediction? Sure?Unpredictable prediction. Um, My bold prediction
is that Adia Barnes is gonna takeover hair and makeup for the all four
days and they're gonna She's just gonnatake over Alex and all of us are

(54:37):
going to show up to the setwithout our hairbrush and with no makeup on.
That's my that's my bold prediction forVegas. Mary, what you got?
You know? I am a personthat will make bold predictions if I
feel it. I just don't.I don't have a bold prediction. My
bold prediction. I just think Oregan'sgonna go in there and it's gonna be
an Oregan party. There you go. Yeah, I mean there's gonna be
a lot of twenty Jerseys in thecrowd. We know that their fans travel,

(54:59):
They're going to show up. Colin, what do you got, what's
your what's your unpredictable prediction? Well, that's the thing, Like I feel
like this one because of how dominantStanford, I mean an organ span,
it's hard to even say anyone's goingto crash through that side of the bracket.
Um, I mean, so Stanfordsees them in the in the semis.

(55:21):
I mean, I always it wouldbe weird not to see Stanford in
the finals. But yeah, Idon't know, Yeah, that's gonna be.
Yeah. I was gonna say,if you're gonna ask a question,
you gotta have a better answer thanthat. But I have a bull prediction.
Uh No, But I do thinkthat that is an Adia said it
when I talked to her earlier thisweek that the story that kind of no

(55:42):
one wants to admit is the storyis that who on earth is gonna stop
this train that is the Organ Ducksbecause they are just they are rolling and
it's been, Um, it's beena special season for them and the regular
season, and I'm looking forward toseeing what they can put together in March
and hopefully into April. But youknow, you can't beat Oregan if you
don't get to that game. Soyou got to do the work to get
there and then you just go outand we've there's upsets all over history,

(56:08):
so but you got to get thereto make it happen. So it's about,
you know, talk to Jody aboutthis, talk to every coach,
but to every quarter. It's everypossession. It's put one foot in front
of the other, and just takecare of your business. Don't let the
distractions of Las Vegas, don't leteverything that's going on affect you. Just
go play your game to the bestof your ability and see what happens.

(56:29):
I'm gonna guess that we're gonna havethree upsets steed wise, I think three
is kind of the number. Maybefour, but I think three at least
we'll have. We'll have three upsetsby the time it is all said and
done, starting with Thursday, ArizonaState and Cal eleven thirty in Pacific time
on the PAC twelve. Now workall right, ladies, great job as
always our thanks to Ada Barnes,our thanks to greg Our Crack researcher.

(56:51):
They've been putting together stuff for usfor this tournament and it is going to
be awesome. I gotta go pack. I'm heading to Vegas for quite a
bit. You're moving to I'm movingto Vegas and Airbnb. It's been nice
knowing Yell. Yeah, the nexttime we talk, I will. I
will be in Vegas next week forthe podcast, so it'll be a little
bit of a different setup, butwe will bring it to you Tuesday like
we always do. Thanks so muchfor listening. Please rate, review,

(57:12):
subscribe, and enjoy your life.