Full transcript of the Oklahoma State WNIT championship game postgame press conference

Obviously lots of emotions and comments following Oklahoma State’s 75-68 victory over James Madison to win the WNIT championship Saturday afternoon. Way more than I could fit into one game story.

Here’s the full transcript of the postgame press conference.

Jim Littell’s opening statement:

I’m so proud of this group, what they’ve accomplished this year. When you’re talking in terms of the heart, it’s been a long, tough year. When you’re talking in terms of basketball, this group has accomplished so much and gotten so much better. They were exciting to watch. This stretch in the WNIT did so much for our program, the confidence level, allowing a young group to continue to play, a chance to build our fan base.

I’ll be honest with you. Today Coach Budke, Coach Serna, the Brandstetters, my dad have been on my mind a lot. As I said out there a little while ago, our group decided in November that we were going to pay honor, and I don’t think there’s any question that these young ladies paid honor and did things right.

On seeing Shelley Budke finishing cutting down the net:

Littell: We wouldn’t of had it any other way. She’s been a rock for us, the way she’s come to the games and supported the Cowgirls and been there for these kids and been there for the coaches. I commend her for that. I don’t know how she does it sometimes, the way she’s done it. I’ve known her for a long time. She played for me. Just a special lady, and we love her to death

Toni Young: It’s really emotional. This will be my third year knowing her, and every game you see her up in the stands cheering for us. For her to be able to cut that net down and still see a smile on her face, it means a lot to us.

On how it feels to win the WNIT:

Young: We set out to accomplish a goal at the beginning of the year, even after everything we’ve been through. It feels good to win our last game. Like my coach said before, a lot of teams don’t get to do this, win their last game. Coming off on a win and being able to honor our coaches, it feels great.

Tiffany Bias: It’s a feeling that words can’t describe. It’s really hard to explain. There are so many emotions that’s going through your head about so many different things, going (every) which way. You’re just happy. You have a smile on your face. You know that you’ve done it for a team and for our whole community.

On the emotions of this season:

Littell: It was hard, but the kids wanted to represent and do the right thing. It would have been awfully easy for this team to just say, ‘You know, we’ll start next year’ or ‘We’ve had a rough year and things have gone wrong, and we’ll just start next year.’ But they didn’t do that. It just tells a great deal about the character of the two people beside me (Young and Bias) and our whole locker room, our whole team.

Young: It was pretty tough, but having the support of your team and our community behind us, it helped a lot. We got through it all together as one. We stuck around each other, pretty much this whole season, and we’re still growing and getting stronger together.

Bias: It’s a roller coaster. I think we all experienced it. When we were sad, we were sad. When we were happy, we were happy. I think we all went through that. I think it was a tough spot, but I think we got–we’re getting–through it as a team, as one.

On the Budkes being on the minds of the Cowgirls Saturday:

Bias: I think they’re always on my mind. They’re always in the back of our head, just always being there. I think they were really watching us today. It showed out there on the floor. They were both on our minds the whole time.