yeah obviously we're uh excited to be here um you know excited about being in the sweet 16 and I didn't realize it till the other day it came across the ticker I think five out of the last six years we've been in the sweet 16 so I'm real proud of this group uh for maintaining that level of success obviously we got a great challenge ahead of us uh you know somebody was joking uh between Tara and myself uh we have uh 2,000 wins I think she's more than carrying her side of that but uh no obviously a legend uh in our game and uh unbelievable players uh so we know we've got a big challenge but we're excited to being here we're excited to be in Portland it's a beautiful place hadn't been here in a long time and uh it's a neat neat spot so uh uh all the all the way around excited to be here if you have a question please raise your hand and we'll be in microphone for it start with Lindsay hey us lindsy Chanel USA Today uh obviously the story with Stanford is Cam and Kiki on the inside in the paint is there a team that you've played that you can compare them to like does anyone have that kind of onew punch do you think in the ACC and then can you stop them or is it more about like okay we got to make the guards beat us because those two are going to do what they're going to do yeah I mean obviously uh there's a combination of posts like that I I don't know if we've seen that this year or not um you know a lot of teams will have a you know a two-man game a garden a post whatever but to have two uh posts that are averaging close to 20 a game is is kind of rare so um yeah it's going to be going to be a big challenge uh you know we've worked on a whole lot of different stuff and you hope that something sticks you know you hope something works but uh no doubt uh big challenge for us and uh I don't think you're going to stop but you hope you can maybe slow them down a little bit come up here in front hold on wait for the microphone please excuse me I'm Sor thank you Ernie Myers Wolfpack sports radio coach what are you most proud of of this team the growth throughout the year uh talk about that yeah yeah you know talking about a team that wasn't uh preseason wasn't ranked top 25 I think we were picked eighth in the ACC and uh just real proud of the fact that they've just kept working and working and I think our chemistry is really good I always think culture is a big factor in in success of a team and uh so I think they've really gotten along great they've been unselfish uh they pull for each other and uh you know whenever somebody needs to step up and that's what's great we don't rely on one player uh on a given night we've had probably everybody on in our lineup our starting five six top six or seven players have put up 25 points on a given night so it's good when you can have that kind of balance and not have to live and die with just one player so uh I think that's probably the biggest thing the team uh and and the way uh as a unit they have continued to get better over here Jesse doerty with the Washington Post West if the if the performance units program for the tournament came to the women's side in the near future um what could that mean for the sport across the board I'm sorry one more time if the performance units program and like the men's side have where you know you get rewarded for each win financially comes to the women's side in the near future what could that mean overall just for the women's game what effects could it have yeah I mean I think uh you know right now the game is so popular I mean I I think our numbers are uh our our TV ratings and things are right now comparable with men with the with the NBA and uh it's just an exciting time for our Sport and uh you know I I obviously we'd love to see that happen I think now with our new TV contract and the emphasis that ESPN has made uh on women's basketball I think you're going to continue to see it just take leaps uh and a lot of this is due to the talent I mean uh you've got some great players right now and uh there's so much uh now you have it where people are going to see a particular player uh and that just tells you uh how far our game has come I think also you I hate to admit it the portal has probably caused for parody and you know right now I think this thing's pretty wide open I know South Carolina has definitely separated themselves during the regular season uh but I do think uh there's a lot of parody in our game and and I think that makes it exciting for people as well Alexa oh oh there we go Alexa Phil ESPN somewhat related question but when Tara was up here she said she thought in some ways that the sports grown so fast that the sport landscape hasn't even necessarily kept up with every single change and one of the ways she uh brought that up was that she was in favor of going back to four Regional sites and doesn't love the two site setup right now do you agree with her in any of those respects do you see other areas where maybe the growth of the sport has outpaced some of the infrastructure well I'll be honest unfortunately last year we didn't make it to this one so this is my first experience with uh eight teams uh in one side and you know so far I like it you know we'll see but uh like I said I'm excited to be in Portland and um you know I just think uh I I do like the fact that people don't have a homec court advantage uh we ran into that a couple of years ago and we were a double overtime loss away from going to the final four uh so from that standpoint I've noticed that you know Oregon state is in Albany Yukon is in Portland uh um so I think they've made an effort to uh you know kind of even the playing surface and uh so from that standpoint I like it so uh who knows she's been around a lot longer than I have probably has a better feel for it but I'm excited to be in Portland Jaden Watson Fisher Raleigh news and observer Wes obviously the Wolfpack men's team has really used the why not us as a rallying cry for their team um just based on the lack of EXP expectations and kind of how how how they performed um for you and this team do yall have something similar no I just remind them from time to time that you know we have uh you know probably been several times been picked to end our season and we're still here so we're still alive so uh I'm so just you know kind of expounding on that a little bit I I'm so happy for our men uh and coach Keats and that program and what they've done and and yeah I love the saying why not us uh but you know we can't copy that so uh you know we'll just uh we'll just keep hanging in here but uh yeah I mean I think both our teams have uh you know maybe overachieved from what people on the outside thought uh but what people think on the inside's what matters and uh our kids are they're feeling good right now they're confident and they're uh uh excited about the next step Sean hiken AP uh with Sanford coming into your conference next year do you kind of look at this game as almost a preview in a way of like what the regular season is going to be like for you guys next year like in conference play well two things on that subject first of all I thought oh boy Cameron Brinks is going to the WNBA we won't have to play against her and then the bracket comes out we both win a couple of games and now get to meet her so yeah uh but uh then the other thing is I'm going to try to talk to Tara and them and see CU we're supposed to come out here next year I'm going to see if this could count as our game out here against Stanford uh and we'll just count it double and but no I think it's exciting to have them coming in and uh you know again all three teams uh I grew up in Dallas I'm excited about SMU you know I grew up watching them and I'm glad that they're in a power five now and uh and then Cal and Stanford uh it's exciting to expand our conference out to the West Coast I think that I think that's good you know and uh so yeah I think it's I think it's all good but yeah right now I'm not really looking at as a conference game and so we'll just focus on uh where we're are lindsy and then Todd Lindsay Chanel USA Today Wes um Lindsay Edmonds has emerged as um a cand candidate Virginia Tech she's obviously had a lot of success at Rice took him to the tournament this year do you think she's ready to be a power five head coach and and what do you what qualities does she have that will eventually make her a power five coach whether or not it's at V Tech yeah Lindsay's definitely uh ready to be a power five coach uh she has all the qualities you look for she you know what amazes me y she's got three daughters uh and when she was with us she had two daughters and I don't know how you do it you know but she juggled it she didn't cut corners on our side on the professional side obviously it helps having a great husband uh to kind of cover things for her as well but you know Lindsay can evaluate she can recruit she's great with people uh she knows the game and she works hard I mean you know she's texted me at 1:00 in the morning and you know said hey uh you know Urus tell me to I need to go to bed and I'm telling him Coach Moore wouldn't go to bed and you know so uh she's uh she's working her tail off and it's exciting to see uh how fast she is the fast track she's on but yeah she's definitely G ready whenever uh opportunity is there before Todd we've got a question in the zoom room uh Ethan McDow go ahead please you want to bring him up Ethan go ahead please hey coach Ethan McDow from the wolf Packer I was honestly surprised to see that Stanford nnc State haven't played since the 90s just from afar what do you admire about their program and what you've seen from um coach Tara over the years admire about Stanford's program is that what it was I'm old y'all me I have trouble sometimes but um yeah I mean again I've been this is my 35th year as a head coach so uh and I've been around a while I was fortunate to be around Pat Summit and Kayo um and obviously Tara I put her kind of in that same group obviously she has kept winning and winning and winning and has passed everybody uh but yeah it's amazing what she's done and and the culture and uh the top program and um you know not only you know the winning but also just the way they handle and carry themselves is impressive and uh you know I think it's one of the you know Yukon Tennessee and Stanford or some of the schools that kind of started this uh path for all of us and obviously uh Connecticut throw them in there and now South Carolina's kind of uh carrying the carrying it as well but uh yeah Stanford is when you think of the top you know two or three programs in the country they instantly come to mind and that's because of Tara and the job she's done Todd and then we'll come up front Todd Millis SB live sports I'm sure you know a lot of the great outstanding truee freshman that they're playing um in the NCA tournament you have one of them in Zoe just can you talk to her contributions not only in the tournament um but throughout the season and and maybe some of the things you've sort of thrown at her just to see what she can handle uh you're talking about freshman Zoe yeah yeah Zoe's uh you know just continue to get better and better it's it's tough y'all I mean uh to be playing in a high school a year ago and now to be on this stage and playing the elite players in the country that are fixing to go to the WNBA uh that's a big jump for an 18-year-old kid and uh she's handled it great uh obviously we knew we were getting somebody special but uh you know we've really needed her uh uh Play The Point play off the ball a little bit uh to be able to move siai Rivers off the ball some uh but just from a standpoint you know she's she's played a lot of minutes and played a big role for us and uh she's still a freshman there's still things that uh you know luckily my hair is not gray yet but you know she's probably contributed to that at times but uh at the same time uh you know she's been special and and she's got a great future ahead of her and um so we're I think she's she's handled things extremely well especially in the ACC and and now in this NCAA tournament run um handled it really well we're under two minutes so these will be our last two questions Andrew Sanders and C State radio coach Stanford is joining the ACC next season it's already a deep League how do you feel like the depth and the strength of the ACC is prepared your team for the post season yeah you know I told our team uh last night uh we have five wins against teams that are still playing that are that are here in the sweet 16 so I mean there's 15 teams other than ourselves and uh We've we've got five wins against those teams so I think we our non-conference schedule and then obviously the ACC schedule I mean now I think we've got three teams left in the sweet 16 uh in from our conference I think that's impressive and no doubt those things uh you know you can convince your players hey you've played against the best you're you're built for this and uh we know we can compete with anybody in the country and uh so it's uh definitely a big factor that that's why we schedule the way we do and and uh hopefully by playing those kind of games early uh now you're not overwhelmed or overly concerned about whoever you might play at this point and real quick last question Sabrina Merchant the athletic uh coach just thinking about people who have outperformed outside expectations I think as IIA James comes to mind first of all what do you think has been just the key to her success this year in terms of leading you guys in scoring and just taking yeah I think I think couple things first of all uh she and siia for that matter after we uh had a disappointing ending last year uh they they got in the gym and uh all summer long they put the work in you know I love the saying the the harder I work the luckier I get uh you know they've put the time in and uh I think that also breeds confidence when you've put that time in and I think confidence is a big factor Isaiah still has times where maybe she you know she wants to help our team wins so badly that if she makes a mistake or whatever she's pretty hard on herself uh so you know I think she's gotten better at that and that's what you'll try to see grow even the next year or so uh because she obviously is one of the elite players in the country and uh we wouldn't be where we are without her and and the performance she had uh just the other day against Tennessee I thought uh helped us helped us get off to a great start and uh but she's capable of making plays on both ends of the floor and doing a lot of things for us and and again I'm proud of her and happy that she's enjoying the fruits of her labor a little bit