Looking Back at the 2016 Final Four Run

CORVALLIS – This week Oregon State radio broadcaster Ron Callan was joined by the starting five from the 2015-16 season for the Talkin' Beavers podcast.

You can find the full interview with Ruth Hamblin, Gabby Hanson, Deven Hunter, Jamie (Weisner) Scott and Sydney Wiese here, or check out excerpts below, as the group talked about an incredible season that started in Italy and ended in Indianapolis.

On preseason workouts and the summer Italy tour:

DEVEN: "After our junior season, and the way it ended, the way we prepared that summer (of 2015) really set us up. All of the practices were so good, and everyone was dialed in. At that point I knew that we weren't going to let that season end the way it did the year before. The way that we practiced that summer was incredible."

GABBY: "I think we felt it in Italy. Thinking back about that year, I really remember how long it was. It felt like the season started in July and ran all the way through April. Heading into that season, I think we felt a little bit more freedom. We knew what to expect, we'd been through the battles, we'd been through so much together, and it didn't feel like anything could stand in our way except for ourselves. When we started to believe in that mentality, I think that opened up the doors for us to make the Final Four."

JAMIE: "(Italy) was one of my favorite trips ever. I've traveled all over the world for basketball, but that Italy trip probably ranks No. 1. I think the biggest part was the bonding – more than the basketball it was the constant time together. It was all of the travel, the long bus rides – all of the memories that we made together that brought us together as a group."

RUTH: "Even when we were first starting the year with the Italy tour, it felt special. The group had been together for so long, and we'd been through the battles and trials. Once we got to mid-February and we were hitting our gears, I think we realized 'alright, this is going to be a really special run'."

On the preparation in practice:

GABBY: "Looking back, I just see what a blessing it was to go against someone like Jamie. The whole team was competitive, but Jamie and I were especially, and we were consistently matched up together. To compete the way we did and to still be able to be as close as we were off the court, I don't think is really normal. I think both of us kept the bigger picture in mind the whole time, and I think it made both of us better being able to compete that way."

SYDNEY: "Our practices were so competitive. Every single drill, everything we did, it wasn't personal, but we wanted to beat each other so badly. We were doing it all with that big picture in mind of what we wanted to do and what we wanted to get out of each other. It was this level of maturity that team had, of understanding the vision and wanting to do everything we could to get each other there. We were going to love each other so much that we would push each other to that point, every single day, every single moment. It didn't matter who was across from you, you wanted to go at them, and you wanted them to go at you."

On facing Baylor in the Elite Eight:

SYDNEY: "That whole game I felt so much peace. In warm-ups, I didn't feel nerves – it felt like 'we're prepared for this, all of our experiences have led us to the moment, and now we just get to embrace it together'. We knew we had done all we could."

RUTH: "I remember being really excited for the challenge. I usually didn't play against players who were taller than me, and I was going up against Kalani Brown, who is 6-7. I was just locked in on boxing her out, and I think I got a few blocks on her too. I remember that small slice of Oregon State fans being so much louder than the home-town Baylor crowd. It was such an unreal environment."

GABBY: "That was a game we were well prepared for. We had put in some special defensive principles to try to slow them down. We were a team that didn't really change the principles of the way we played defense, but that was a game where we had to make those adjustments. It was different, but I remember going in thinking there was nothing else we could have done to prepare for that moment. It felt all of the preparation for years had led us to that point."

DEVEN: "That whole game felt like a dream. After the buzzer went off, it felt like we had another quarter – it didn't feel like it could really be over. It felt like that game should have been stressful, but for me, it felt like 'we have this'."

RUTH: "That last three-point shot felt like it was in slow motion. I think Deven grabbed the rebound just as the buzzer went off, and then sprinting across the court to celebrate was just crazy."

SYDNEY: "I still get chills thinking about that moment when the buzzer went off. The pure joy – thinking about the journey that had brought us to that point and being able to celebrate it with the team. That journey didn't begin that season, it had been years in the making. Throughout that whole NCAA Tournament, you didn't know who was going to go off on any given night, but you knew it was going to happen. We had that trust in one another. The Pac-12 prepared us for that run. It didn't matter who we played, we were going to do what we needed to do no matter who we were playing against. The culmination of preparation, performing to that point, hitting big shots, and finally being able to celebrate together – it was just authentic joy. Being able to share is with one another is really what made it so special."

On Indianapolis and the Final Four:

RUTH: "I remember all of our fans being in the same hotel as us, and what an amazing community experience it was – we were experiencing all of this joy, but so was Beaver Nation. It was just so much fun."

SYDNEY: "It's such a big stage, and you can't help but feel gratitude. There were so many different things going on around the Final Four that you really have to discipline yourself to prepare for the game. Once you were on the floor it was just being out there with your teammates, focusing on the work we had put in that week. It was special being out there – no matter what the outcome would be, it was legendary to make it there. I knew we had earned it, and we competed as hard as we could."

JAMIE: "I remember just being so proud, and at the same time sad that it was over. I have a picture of Ruth and me sitting on the bench crying because we knew it was over. They were sad tears, but also tears of joy because of everything we had gone through together. It was a dream of mine, and to have that come true it was such an amazing accomplishment."

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