FINAL ROUND QUOTES
 
Arizona State Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye – Sun Devils won an NCAA record eighth national title

Opening statement…
"We're all floating on cloud nine. We keep saying, is this real, is this real, and it is. This is a grueling championship now with the format, and it's an exciting format, but you have to be ready to play a lot of golf, and then you factor in some weather delays and problems, and I think we left the hotel at 4:30 a.m. three times and then had 12-hour days, 13-hour days, and it's a lot. But we knew that, and that's been part of our training for the year to try to do that, to be ready for that, to be all in come May 24th. It's thrilling and exciting. Our goal has been to get to the top eight, and let's just get ourselves in the top eight and then let's see what we can do, and then we kept -- okay, accomplished that, move on to the next thing, accomplish that, move on to the next day, and just we took it one day at a time, we didn't get ahead of ourselves."
 
On four players returning next season…
"Everybody is coming back, and we've got a freshman coming in from Spain. Yeah, this team is still hungry. I know that there's still things that they want to do and to achieve, and it'll be great to have everybody be ready to go. Graduating Monica Vaughn is not going to be easy, and I'm really proud of myself, I haven't cried today yet about it. Every time we started, I said, okay, I can't be nostalgic about it, but when you spend four years with somebody, it's just so special."
 
Monica Vaughn, Arizona State – First player since 2013 to win individual title and national team title
 
On winning the individual and national titles…
"It's an incredible week. Everyone keeps saying that they can't believe it, but I can totally believe it. We thought it all year, we believed in it every single day all year long, and we accomplished it.
 
"But it's incredible to me how many people keep saying, it's unbelievable, I can't believe it, and I'm just like, I can believe it. I can totally believe it. I don't know why you guys are saying you can't believe it, because I totally have believed it since day one. You know, we have worked so hard for this, and we have stressed about it, we have worked for it every single day this year. Look at us now, national champions, so it worked. No, absolutely reality is better than the dream, and you know, you just keep dreaming it and it's going to happen."
 
Linnea Strom, Arizona State – Clinched the team title on the 15^th hole with a birdie putt (5 & 3)
 
On winning the individual and national titles…
"I really like to have a little pressure on me when I'm playing, and I really thought that this morning, I got set for it, and I don't know, just knowing that we are here all together and our men's team came out supporting us today. I think that helped a lot because there were a lot of people out there today, so it was good to feel like some people from home were out here supporting. I like being in that position, so that was good."
 
Northwestern Head Coach Emily Fletcher – National runner-up
 
Opening statement…
"We talked about doing this and spent so many hours preparing to do it, but to actually get here and experience it, it's pretty amazing. I'm so proud of this group. You know, they're evidence of some disappointment a month ago at Big Ten, where they're just putting your head down and decide that you're going to be better for it and you're going to learn from it, and they decided to do that, and it kind of makes it sweeter. I don't know about you guys, if you're to that point yet, but I think it feels sweeter."
 
On finishing runner-up after a disappointing Big Ten Championship finish...
", I think that this group believed that we were going to win the Big Ten Championship this year, and there was never a doubt in my mind, and then when we didn't, it was a bit of -- it really wasn't a wake up call, it was just really disappointing. We played hard. It was hard fought. Michigan State played really well the last two rounds, and we talked about it as a team and said, we can be better for this. We learned something about ourselves out there competing. We played hard, but we needed to make a few better choices here and there, and we each just said, this is going to pay off. I don't know if it's going to be at regionals, making it through, or if it's going to be in stroke play, making it to match play, something in match play, but there's a lesson in it for us and there's something for us to learn from. I think they did decide that they weren't going to feel sorry for themselves but that they were actually going to be better for it and really help themselves to improve and be better."
 
Hannah Kim, Northwestern – Finished all square with Monica Vaughn
 
On advancing to the final today with a comeback in the semifinal
"I would say that a night's rest definitely helped. Coming out of the 36-hole round can be very tiring and can be very stressful, but I think after a night's rest, I think we were fully prepared to go against USC and play our best."

On a short turnaround between rounds…
"I think three hours is plenty of time for us to prepare against ASU. It's enough time to get a quick bite, to rest, and just go through our regular pre-shot routines, our pre-tournament routines. 30 minutes at the range and putting and going through our normal stuff."
 
Janet Mao, Northwestern – Lost 5 & 4 to Roberta Liti in the final
 
Following up Coach Fletcher on the disappointment of the Big Ten Championships…
", it wasn't necessarily in my mind. I was kind of focusing on the task at hand. But I think afterwards, that was the first thing that popped in my head was -- I mean, I was devastated at Big Tens, I'm not going to lie. I put myself in that position, and the position I wanted to be in, final group on the last day, and for me to not be able to -- I mean, I just had high expectations for myself, and to not be able to achieve that, I think it was really hard for myself, and for me to -- I mean, I was in a similar position today, and I knew that I needed to go out and win that match, and I was going to do that for my teammates and for my coaches and for everybody, and there was not a doubt in my mind as I stood over that putt."
 
POST SEMIFINAL ROUND QUOTES
 
Arizona State Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye – Advanced to Championship Match

On what the difference was for her team in the morning's continuation round…
"Yesterday we were starting to get tired, and I think Mo [Vaughn] was tired. It's really tough coming off winning as an individual. We were the last ones out of here Monday night, so they break kind of helped us. We got a good night's sleep. We got two more hours of sleep which was good. We just reset. And I said [to the team] we've done our job, let's just go see what we can do."

On Monica Vaughn's chip on 18…
"She's a great player and she knew exactly what kind of shot she wanted to hit. We knew how the green was going to break and she figured out the shot and it was beautiful."

On Monica Vaughn's first shot of the day Wednesday morning…
"It landed over the left side of that tree. She just killed it. It was beautiful."
 
Monica Vaughn, Arizona State – Forced a playoff and won on hole 19

On advancing to the final…
"It feels amazing. I don't think anyone saw it coming and it was a great decision for us to suspend play and come back today to finish. We just came out ready to fight and ready to go. We got them early and had a couple of really good holes coming in."

On approach to the finish of the semifinal round…
"Yesterday, I told myself, you're either going to eagle or birdie this hole and you're going to go and win the next one. I don't have time to be nervous, I don't have time to do anything except for win these two holes and that's exactly what I did. I went out on the putting green the exact putts that I knew I'd have and went out on the range hitting a hybrid and three wood, and pitched from about 30-yards in the practice area and 15 footers up hill on the green and that's all I had."

On her comfort and confidence knowing the course…
"I think this golf course really suits me. I think they'll switch the pins and tees to make it harder, I assume, but I think our strategy all week has been exactly what we need to be doing and what we're going to take into the final round."
 
Northwestern Head Coach Emily Fletcher – Advanced to the Championship
 
On playing in Match Play Final…
"It feels pretty special. It's a culmination of so much work from these kids. We're excited to watch them go after it this afternoon."
 
On winning two playoff holes to win…
"I think Kacie (Komoto) extending the match and letting Janet (Mao) know we still had two people playing, it really spreads that pressure out and that was huge for us. Coming down the stretch, Janet embraced match play. She's such a competitor and she would be the one that would want that putt. It was sweet redemption for her. She struggled a little bit at the Big Ten Championship and for her to be the one to push us to the finals was really sweet."

On preparing the team for the final on a quick turnaround…
"We'll get some food, relax a little bit, we have some compression boots to keep their legs fresh and then we'll reset. We'll hit the reset button and go through our normal warm up and do it all over again."
 
Northwestern's Janet Mao – Clinched the match on hole 19
 
On winning the match and advancing the team to the championship…
"Yesterday it started a little slow. Gabby made a great birdie on two when I was one down, I three putted from 15 feet on three, I knew that I needed to pick it up. I knew if I fought, I knew I could get it back. I think having the weather delay, being able to sleep on it and come out this morning was a fresh start."
 
On playing for a national championship in the Chicagoland area…
"It's a great experience. Our only other home event is the Windy City (Collegiate) in the fall and we don't always get a big crowd. Playing this week has been a completely new experience for me, I've never had a crowd this big watching me, having that great energy and the cheers is really exhilarating."
 
On what Coach Fletcher said to the team the night before…
"The main thing was that it's match play and it's close. She knew that we're all fighters and that we're going to give it our all. Let's keep our fire going and go out there, give it our all and see what we can do."

Southern California Head Coach Andrea Gaston – Lost to Northwestern in Playoff

On what the difference was for her team in the morning's continuation round…
"I know how bad these ladies feel. They fought their hearts out. I'm really proud of them. I know we were in Northwestern's territory. They had a lot of fans out here, but our girls fought hard. I thought going into today, with four in the lead, maybe we could hold it, but you just never know what the momentum swings are going to be."

On the week at the NCAA Championships…
"We started out with incredible weather. It's been a week of adversity, but I think our team was prepared as it could be for facing this challenge and playing on this golf course. The goal all year was to win a national championship. I think that's what we set our hearts on, but we fell a little bit short. 

"One of our players turned pro earlier in the fall and I think we were one of those underdog teams with a group of five ladies that could definitely still win out here. Maybe the match play was to our advantage because I thought we certainly still had the depth to battle for the championship."

On Wednesday morning's play with Northwestern…
"Obviously, we went in with a nice lead and it looked like things were very favorable for us. Again, there's a lot of talent on Northwestern's team. I really respect what Emily [Fletcher] and Beth [Miller] have accomplished. They have some great players and obviously we're in the Midwest, in their neck of the woods. Maybe they had a little more firepower to obviously get it done today. Match play is always an unknown what's going to happen. It's exciting. I'm sure the fans were excited to watch it. I told the girls, I said we'll learn more from our losses then we will from our wins."

Stanford Head Coach Anne Walker – Lost to Arizona State in Playoff

On her team's performance throughout the week…
"I couldn't be more proud of them, that's what I just said [to them]. Just the heart and the determination and the mental toughness it took to get to this point in this week, the quality of golf they played in the ASU match yesterday afternoon. [At the end of the day], Shannon [Aubert] was 4 under, Casey [Danielson] was under, Andrea [Lee] was 1 under, Albane [Valenzuela] I think when she finished at 18 was either even or 1 under, and Madie [Chou] I think was 1 over through 18, so when you look at the level of golf yesterday, after the week we had it was just nothing short of remarkable."
 
On coming back today and the difficulty of this morning…
'I think that you know it could have gone either way today. We knew that coming in here and I feel like Albane felt like she had to make birdie on 18 and she was right, she knew that. [ASU's] Monica [Vaughn] is a terrific player, she is very seasoned she was going to come at it, she hits it far, she hits it a long way, and that chip she hit almost went in, should have probably gone in. I saw the highlight reel, and not much you can do about that. Albane gave her birdie look a good run, and it just didn't fall."

On her young team and how they handled adversity and the difficulties of the course…
"That's probably the biggest takeaway from this is that we had three freshmen in the mix there that not only were in the mix, but were playing like seasoned veterans, so we were just talking about that. They're responsible for getting us back here hopefully. Going home to work on their short games, but it's exciting when you look forward and they got that experience this year.

On the championships, the course and their time in Illinois…
"It's been an interesting time we've had in Illinois, not the one that we were expecting. They told me the sun does shine, maybe [I'll] come back this summer and see if that's true, but it's been challenging, it's been really hard. The cold temperatures, the wind, the rain, the on, the off. The course is playing wet, it's playing really long, it's a long walk anyway, it's a big property, so I think just in general it's a test of mental toughness."