Women's Basketball Holds Preseason Media Day
TUCSON, Ariz.--- With the start of the 2014-15 season just over two weeks away, head coach Niya Butts and various student-athletes had the opportunity to speak with the local media, Monday afternoon during the Wildcats’ annual preseason Media Day event.
The Wildcats enter the new campaign with a healthy mix of veteran leadership and young talent, as they return four letterwinners and three starters from a year ago, while welcoming in seven newcomers, in what makes up one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Butts enters her seventh year at the helm.
Arizona will take the floor for the first time this season on Nov. 11 in an exhibition affair against Concordia University at 3 p.m. MST inside McKale Center. The Cats will tip off the regular season at home against Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. MST.
HEAD COACH- NIYA BUTTS
Opening Statement
"It’s that time of year again for us and we are excited for it. We are looking forward to the opportunity to get out on the floor again. I have two fifth year seniors this year and we will definitely be looking at them for leadership because we are going to need it. We have a talented group of ladies but we have seven newcomers. When you have a lot of new players it requires a lot of slowing down and a lot of teaching. We feel really good about the group we have though. We’re still growing and luckily we have a couple more weeks until our first game. We are excited for the season and we feel like we have the pieces we need and we have a full roster. It’s going to be great.”
On having seven newcomers
“The toughest part of having seven new players on the team is having seven new players on the team. However, that is also the best part. We have new faces, different talent, and it makes it exciting to work with; frustrating at times, but exciting nonetheless.”
On the team’s biggest strength
“We have fourteen players on the roster. Last season we battled with fatigue and injuries. We feel pretty good with having plenty of people to play this year and the rest is just us gelling together, teaching what needs to be taught, and being sharp with everything that we do.”
On the importance of the two seniors
“I’m relying on them a lot. We rely on them for everything, whether it’s offensively, defensive production, or leadership on and off the court. They are going to have to set good and positive examples. I think they are doing a great job of that so far. There is no doubt that we are going to need their leadership. We are also going to need their production and I think they are going to be able to do that as well. I like the way they look in practice so far so we just need to make sure we keep progressing and keep getting better.”
On how the team looks so far in practice
“I am always looking for more, there’s always another level we can accomplish. We have good days and we have some days where we are not as consistent as I would like. But overall we are working hard. Now it’s about fine-tuning things and making sure we do things the right way each time. With this group I can say that the majority of the time we are playing hard and that’s half the battle. We have to now make sure we don’t make many mistakes, execute offensively, perform defensively, and have high energy that lasts forty minutes.”
On Arizona’s ideal style of play
“I like to play fast but right now we are working so hard defensively and now we have to slow down offensively so we don’t make mistakes. I would much rather slow us down than speed us up. Having a full roster is going to help us a lot; we will be able to sub people in and change it up a bit. That will help us get after teams defensively a bit more and we won’t have to worry about fouls and fatigue as much.”
On what constitutes success this season
“We want to get better every single game. If you come to the games and at the end of every game you’re looking at your notes and you see that we executed well, we used our screens well, we had strong defense, and always made smooth passes, I think the outcome will be wins most of the time. For me, that’s how I’m going to mark success. We are looking to get to the NCAA Tournament. Number 64 is a good number so we feel pretty good. We want to stay healthy and we want to compete.”
SENIOR GUARD- CANDICE WARTHEN
On being a team leader
“I’ve been with Coach Butts for a long time now and since day one she has always come to me and has pushed me to be a leader. I accepted this challenge and being a fifth year senior I know I can’t back down from any challenge.”
On Coach Butts’ positivity
“She has a great impact on us. She is full of energy and I think it definitely spreads throughout the team. Before coming here I was very calm and shy, but she makes me want to have a lot of energy especially on the court. It’s interesting to see how she wears off on all of us in such a positive way.”
SENIOR FORWARD- ALLI GLOYD
On returning from her injury
“It’s been good coming back. Obviously coming back from a knee injury is not easy or fun, but we have a great staff and a great trainer who was there every step of the way. It wasn’t fun but it was a smooth transition.”
On being a team leader this year
“It means a lot to me. I got to sit back and watch the entire season last year so I was able to see things a little be differently. I got to see how coach Butts approaches things and what she expects. I definitely have a good example in front of me.”
SOPHOMORE FORWARD- BREANNA WORKMAN
On what the team can take away from last season
“We need to just keep fighting no matter what the situation. I had to start every game pretty much last year as freshman, so I learned a lot. We really just learned how to come together as a team and we were playing pretty efficiently with just seven players at the end.”
On having Alli Gloyd back from injury
“It’s huge. I mean it was pretty much just me and LaBrittney (Jones) down in the post last year, so it’s going to be great having that extra help, not to mention our senior leader. Dejza James is also back from her injury, so it’s exciting.”
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN FORWARD- DEJZA JAMES
On having to sit out last season due to injury
“It was hard. Just having to see everyone out there and not being able to help. A lot of people don’t see what goes on behind the scenes, but this group wants to win bad. It’s just hard because we didn’t have the tools to do it last year. I’m just so happy to be 14 players deep this year and now we get to see what we’re really made of.”
JUNIOR GUARD- KEYAHNDRA CANNON
On her working on her shot over the offseason
“I’m in the gym almost every day working on my shot. I feel like I’ve improved a lot and I’m going to feel a lot more comfortable shooting in a game.”
SOPHOMORE FORWARD- LABRITTNEY JONES
On what she worked on during the offseason
“I’ve been working out all summer just trying to do my part to get this team to the next level. I’ve been putting up a lot of shots this offseason, specifically working on my outside shot.”
FRESHMAN GUARD- TARYN GRIFFEY
On being a part of this program
“I love it. I love being here. I love the staff, l love my teammates. I’ve loved everything about this place since day one. I’ve been following Arizona for about two years and watching my brother play football. I just love it here.”
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