THE MODERATOR: We're going to go straight to questions.
Q. Sedona, I think you heard most of what Mark was saying with that last question, what does it mean to you to get that type of praise to you?
SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, I was standing off to the side. Yeah, I mean, Mark is -- I've known Mark now for six years of my seven-year journey. So it's been a blessing to have been put across his path in such a unique way. He was obviously our assistant at Oregon, and had a very strong connection with him but it was difficult because you could tell he was destined to break out to be a head coach.
He is so special. He's an amazing leader, and I told myself when I left Oregon, man, I wish I could be coached by Mark Campbell. He was at Sac State, I went to go visit him and Nyara down there when I was out of college and got just got to experience him and I was like, man, I wish I could be coached by him. I wish I had that chance.
To be blessed with these two years, it's been incredible. It's such an honor. He's been such an amazing leader to me. He's been so patient with me. He's witnessed my journey for many years. He knows the kind of trial I've been put through and experienced throughout my college career. So he's very, very patient with my process and he has been. I'm so grateful for him. He's given me so much room to grow, given me so many resources on how to improve my game on and off the court mentally, physically.
I will forever be grateful for him. Truly he's an amazing human, amazing coach and he is the reason for my career, truly.
Q. Everyone is talking about Texas' depth and a lot has been asked of the three of you guys and the starting five not just this weekend but all season. How are you feeling at this point and how do you push through the physical toil of a long year?
HAILEY VAN LITH: I feel amazing. Feel great. We're going to be fine. No issues.
Q. Sedona, I'm not sure if you remember playing against her at Oregon State but what are your thoughts on Taylor Jones and her game?
SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, I know Taylor very well. I know her family well. Played three times in high school basketball tournaments. She was at Oregon State, and I was at Oregon and played a few times there. Now we get to play each other in Texas, which is really cool.
Taylor is awesome. She is an amazing girl. I really respect her. I respect her family. I've known her family for a long time. They're very, very sweet and kind people. It's been really cool. She's an amazing player. It's been fun to match up with her, kind of everywhere along my journey. So I'm excited it's going to be a battle down there.
I've been going on, we haven't seen each other in quite a long time but I've worked really hard and grown my game and I know that she has. So it's the same match-up but much different because we've grown into completely different players.
Q. Madison, talk about the TCU coach staff and your first interaction is and how you have grown into the player that you are this year?
MADISON CONNER: Honestly, I had a copy and paste message to Mark saying, hey, thanks for reaching out but I think I'm going to go in a different way. My high school coach called me right before I sent that text and said, give him a chance. Listen to him. Give him a call and hear what he has to say. You don't have to go there, whatever.
So he FaceTimed me the first time we talked and it was an extremely good conversation. He was extremely humble. He said to be honest, I have nothing to offer you but an opportunity. He knew a whole bunch about my game. He studied my game, things I didn't know about myself, because I was put in such a box at my previous school, he was telling me things that he could see in me.
I talked to him and I called one of my former teammates at Arizona because she played for him when he was an assistant coach at Oregon and she was like, Bro, you have to go there. So I went on my visits, him and his staff, they were humble people. They were trying to sell a 1-17 program. It wasn't really a sell, it was no money, no nothing. It was an opportunity and, I can see you as a person and as a player and we're going to develop you here. We're going to create something great.
We watched film on my visit, we talked. Sedona was on my visit when I was there as well. Me and her had multiple conversations and we were like, let's do something. I took a leap of faith in myself and in the staff, and I think it's turned out pretty good so far, so yeah.
Q. Hailey, last year a lot of people said a lot of things publicly, doubting you and whether or not you would sit here again and whether or not you could have the kind of game that you had last night. So considering everything that you've been through over the past year, what do you have to say to those whoever doubted you?
HAILEY VAN LITH: I don't have anything to say. Their opinions never cashed with me. They can take their two cents to the bank. You like that one?
SEDONA PRINCE: That was a good one.
MADISON CONNER: That was so savage of you.
HAILEY VAN LITH: Okay, love you too. No, I mean, like, it really doesn't matter. It never mattered. A lot of people have opinions and social media has basically given a lot of people who don't know what they're talking about a platform to share their thoughts. It's just is what it is. It's real life, and I'm praying for them, man, hope their life is good. That's what I have to say.
SEDONA PRINCE: Facts.
Q. For all three ladies, have you allowed yourself to think about the opportunity that you could be cutting down the nets and going to the Final Four in Florida?
HAILEY VAN LITH: Yeah, I've thought about it a lot. Obviously we have a huge game to win. So super excited to get to compete on that stage against two Texas schools, which is actually really cool and we haven't played at each at all this year yet.
So I think the narrative around this game is very -- is cool and I'm happy to be a part of it. But you definitely know what you're fighting for, and I feel something in my heart for these girls. Like I said last game, I'm going to go out there and play as hard as I can. I'm going to give everything I have. If I have to dive on every ball, I will do it if it will give us an extra possession. That's my mentality and I'm really hoping to advance.
SEDONA PRINCE: It's really cool too how this shift in Big 12 basketball and how it's been Baylor, Texas for so many years. Watched Baylor and Texas growing up being from Austin, and those are the two powerhouses. Now being part of the shift and beating Baylor three times this year is a complete overturn of power in the Big 12, and dominated and made it known that we were with the No. 1 team in the Big 12. It will be cool, it's a great challenge, old Big 12 team, champions, to go up against them, they're an amazing team.
But we've thought about it too at the Big 12 tournament, I thought about it in my head, man, how special would that feeling be, standing on the stage with these girls and these coaches and Mark and just celebrating. So much we have been through as people, as individuals, but as a team, so much work we've done. Of course you think about it, but you know how much it takes in order to get there and how it's going to be an absolute street fight tomorrow.
Q. Sedona, you mentioned trauma in your life, and it's been very public for you. Growing up in the Austin area, signing with Texas, can you go back and just look at those feelings and your departure and how that shaped you as a person?
SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, I don't think it I really realized how much it affected me until probably this year, to be honest. But, yeah, I mean, I'm from Austin, raised in Austin, committed in 8th grade. Texas was my dream school, forty minutes from where I grew up, and my family. I won't go into details, because it's a long time ago, and there are things if you want to go research it, but, yeah, I mean, it was a very, very difficult year for me as a young woman, as a young player to be thinking I was a part of a family and to be treated in the way that I was.
So I held a lot in my heart and my soul that I didn't know I was carrying around for a long time, and you don't really realize how much trauma can affect you until all of the sudden you're hit with a wall and then it's like, oh man, this has been, you know -- this has been weighing me down for a very long time.
So the staff isn't there, but I have so much respect for Vic and what he's done with the program. I think he's an amazing coach. I have no hard feelings. I've healed from it. It's shaped me into a better person. I'm grateful for that and where it led me to go to Oregon, to leave college and come here. There is nothing else that could have led me here and taught me so many valuable lessons and shaped me into the person I am today without going through those atrocities that I went through.
Q. Hailey as a member of Louisville you went to Austin and you guys eliminated Texas. What do you remember about that experience? Some of the same players that you will be facing tomorrow, and what makes them a tough match-up in the backcourt?
HAILEY VAN LITH: What I remember -- mostly we didn't get to host that year, we had to go into Texas. They were supposed to beat us by a lot. And, you know, it was kind of like Louisville DNA came out there where we scrapped out on defense, and I think we ended up winning by double digits at least.
But it was a great game. We played really well. I think, you know, Rori might have got hurt at some point in that game, she didn't play the whole game. But I mean, all I remember -- it was a great win for us. We pulled off an upset on their home court, which was huge.
That Louisville team that I was a part of, nobody thought we were going to be anything. We weren't ranked at the end of the year, we obviously didn't get to host. Everyone had us losing. That's kinda what I remember. But this year, they're a completely different team from the last time I played them.
I think, again, they're elite defensively, their backcourt, they have a lot of athletic, strong guards who can do different things. They're versatile, they have a lot of different personnel. So scout -- like personnel and knowing the scout will be huge, and at the end of the day the theme of the NCAA Tournament is toughness.
So they're going to be tough. We know they're going to be tough. They have that DNA in them, so we're going to have to match that.
Q. Hailey, I read that your left leg is a half inch shorter than your right. Is it tougher to fade one way or the other or drive one way or the other?
HAILEY VAN LITH: It's true. Yeah, that's true. It's a long story, you guys; I don't share everything with you! It is and it does -- there's a lot of physiological issues that I deal with because of it. My whole right side is stronger and bigger. My hand is bigger, my foot is bigger, my quad is bigger. You can see it if you really look at me, if you're around me a lot.
And, yes, I definitely always prefer to plant off my right leg. I think fading to my left is more comfortable because the leg is shorter so it probably doesn't really touch the ground as much. Just weird things like that, but, yes, that's true, and I deal with it every day.
But at this point in my career I'm older, and I know how to manage my body in that way.
MADISON CONNER: Is that why you're so clumsy?
HAILEY VAN LITH: I'm not clumsy.
SEDONA PRINCE: What are you talking about?
THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports