Last Saturday the Middle Tennessee women’s team beat Rice by 3 PTS in the C-USA tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Blue Raiders lost 3 of 4 games by double-digits heading into early-March but turned things around over the past 10 days to claim the school’s 1st NCAA tourney bid since 2016. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Anastasia Hayes about being named conference POY and making the NCAA tourney.
You went 102-5 at Riverdale High School: did it reach a point where you just expected to win every single time that you stepped onto the court? For sure! We had a mindset that we would never get beat, and I think that we went undefeated during my senior year.
You were named Tennessee Miss Basketball in Class AAA in Murfreesboro: what made you choose the Lady Vols? I am from Tennessee and the Lady Vols have a great program that has won 8 titles.
You were named SEC 6th Player of the Year as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I knew the team needed a spark off the bench so I tried to do whatever I could to help, especially on defense.
Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Middle Tennessee? I needed to be closer to home and to my family. Middle Tennessee has a great program and it was a blessing for me.
You were named C-USA Newcomer of the Year/1st-team All C-USA as a sophomore: how were you able to make such a smooth transition after switching schools? It was hard at 1st but I worked out every single day to get better. I studied the game by watching a lot of film.
You also finished 5th in the nation that year with 221 FTA: how crucial to your success is your ability to get to the FT line? It is very crucial. I get fouled a lot when I drive to the basket and I know that making those FTs are huge. I also want to get better at making the FTs as well!
You are a 5’7” guard: do you see your size as an advantage or disadvantage on the court? I see it as an advantage although I do not really see size. I am fast and play hard with my heart.
This year you were named C-USA POY: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I am blessed/grateful and it means a lot. I worked hard so to do that in front of my family has been amazing.
In the C-USA conference title game last Saturday you scored 17 PTS in a 3-PT win over Rice en route to being named conference tourney MVP: what did it mean to you to win a title, and how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? It meant a lot: we had a long season but worked hard despite not knowing what would happen with COVID. I have been so happy for the past 3 days and keep having flashbacks to the win. I am still in shock about how we were able to do it together as a team.
What do you think about being a #14 seed? I do not really know: whatever seed we get and whoever we play, I know that we will play hard.