THE MODERATOR: I'm joined by the Washington student-athletes. Today joining us, we've got Sayvia Sellers, Dalayah Daniels, and Elle Ladine.
Q. For Elle, obviously being the first time here for Washington in a while, how do you guys combat like the newness of it all and not being overwhelmed by just being here?
ELLE LADINE: Obviously we're blessed the past two years to have a postseason, so just taking from that and trying to apply it here. Yeah, one day at a time, one game at a time, that's kind of our mindset right now.
Q. For a lot of folks, this First Four game will be the first time that they see Washington play on like this big stage. On Thursday night, what is it that you want to see from the Huskies?
SAYVIA SELLERS: Just play hard. Obviously we want to be ourselves, but the best selves. That's what we have to bring to the tournament. So we're not going to be anyone that we're not. We're going to do what we do.
Yeah, hopefully we're playing our best basketball, but we're just going to be ourselves.
Q. Fairly short turnaround just in this two-day period. What have you learned about Columbia? I think you have somebody on the team who actually played them, like you have a Yale graduate sort of on the team there. What have you learned like in these couple days, just what can you guys do that will help you tomorrow?
DALAYAH DANIELS: I think just not underestimating anyone outside of our conference, especially if we don't know them. I think just trying to learn personnel as much as we can. They're a good team. They're disciplined, good defensive team as well. They're really active, really aggressive.
I think it will be a good matchup for us, and I think just being able to play in the Big Ten against different styles of play, I think we're prepared really well. So we're excited.
Q. How does it feel to end your career at an NCAA Tournament?
DALAYAH DANIELS: I'm excited for this experience, excited to learn and grow. I think we're just really focusing on the journey and not just the results. Just spending every single day with our teammates trying to get the most out of every single day and just trying to pour love into everyone.
Yeah, just trying to have a good time at the end of the day.
Q. I know you guys probably had an idea that you would be making the tournament and it was more of a question of where, but just because it is the first time since 2017 that you're returning to the tournament, could you tell us what you were feeling and what it felt like when you heard the program announced on Selection Sunday and you knew you'd be returning to the tournament?
SAYVIA SELLERS: I think obviously we were really excited just to be a part of a team that's been building towards making an NCAA Tournament. Obviously it's really nice and really fun with this group of people.
We put in a lot of work, and we worked hard for it, so I feel like we deserve to be in it. We're just excited to play basketball.
ELLE LADINE: Exact same, just really excited and grateful and so blessed to see all our work behind the scenes kind of get shown. Hopefully we can display it on Thursday. Super excited, super grateful.
Q. I know that Coach Langley mentioned that you all had kind of an average of 2 1/2 days of a break in February. What was it like having this long of a break? And also just not fully knowing who you would be matching up with, how did you stay prepared while also taking that time to relax?
DALAYAH DANIELS: Yeah, I think having a long break was nice. I think it was really good for us to be able to just reset but also like focus on the things that we had to clean up on. Obviously during season you don't have as much time to really work on a lot of things. You've just got to kind of get right to the scout, maybe a few segments in practice.
I feel like this was a really good time for us to just really reset and focus on the areas we need to be better on as a team and not carry a lot of those weaknesses into the postseason.
SAYVIA SELLERS: I agree with everything Lay just said. She said that well.
Q. I'll ask you, Dalayah, obviously you guys ended the season, before the second round tournament loss, on a five-game win streak. You got your first conference tournament win since 2017. What does that give the team in terms of extra confidence or motivation going into this game? And how are you feeling about sort of the history that you're making this season?
DALAYAH DANIELS: I think -- I know Coach Langley had told me something a couple years back about never letting the moment shine brighter than the light that's within you. So I think just understanding that we're here for a reason and not letting the moment dictate how we're going to perform on the court.
This is just like any other stage that we've been playing on, so I think just being our best self, like Sayvia said, and just showing up every single day with intention to detail and just winning the moment, I think that's going to be big for our team this next week.
Q. For anyone, I know that this time that you had for this break, I'm sure you looked at a lot of film. I know Coach Langley was saying it was nice to have that time to look at your own personal film instead of kind of focusing on the scout. What were those main takeaways that you had that you kind of worked on not even knowing what the team was you were matching up with, just personal areas of growth that you worked on?
ELLE LADINE: Kind of just touching up and cleaning up the little things, like boxing out our defense, just like it was a lot of the details that we couldn't really touch up on when we were trying to focus on the scout. So I think having that week to focus on stuff like that, the little things, is going to take us a long way and help us. So it was awesome.
Q. Dalayah, I'll direct this to you just as a leader for this program and the senior here, how valuable is it for obviously your teammates next to you, on either side, but also some of the younger players like a Devin, like a Chloe Briggs, to get this tournament experience? Obviously the program seems to be on the up, and you were a big part in helping start that with Tina. I know we talked about that back in Seattle earlier in the season.
DALAYAH DANIELS: I think it's just a really special moment for us. Again, I think Elle touched on it, a lot of those unseen hours, our underclassman Devin, she came in alone in her class. She didn't have a lot of people to fall back on. She's worked tirelessly in the off-season.
And Sayvia and Elle, like our work ethic has gone through the roof, and I think a lot of those unseen hours are what's going to be on display tonight -- not tonight, but tomorrow.
So I think, yeah, just enjoying the moment, enjoying each other, but also recognizing how far we've come, but not being content with where we are. So I think just trying to reach to be the best version of ourselves and with each other.
Q. Do you guys have a sense as to how your run is seen sort of back home with your fan base? Do you have a sense of how much family or friends who will be happy Thursday night? Do you have a sense as to what this is being felt like back home in Seattle?
ELLE LADINE: My family is really excited. I have a people coming up, and they don't get to see all the work we do day in and day out, but they're just so proud of us. To come this far, they're all proud of us. I know a lot of people in Seattle are as well.
Q. Before you guys hit the court, just one thing would you like to sort of say to each other before you play that game?
SAYVIA SELLERS: Just to be ourselves. I feel like since it's March Madness, like people think that they have to play different? I think just playing how we always play, I feel like we've been playing our best basketball the past couple of games and we were able to fix things. So just be confident in what we worked on, and I think it will show in the game.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports