LOS ANGELES — The two other timesOklahoma State women's basketballhead coach Jacie Hoyt was at the podium to speak to the media following a first-round March Madness game, it was after a defeat.
When she returned to the dais on Saturday after the dust settled on the Cowgirls' 82-68 win over Princeton — the first March Madness win of Hoyt's career — she took a moment to reflect.
"It's been a long time coming," Hoyt, in her fourth season as head coach, said. "I'm so competitive. I want to win every game and it's never been enough for me to just get here. I want to win. That's the expectation that I have for myself.
"No one will ever have a higher expectation for me than me, and this just feels so good to get that monkey off my back, and I'm so proud of our team and I'm grateful for a team that brought me here."
There's not much time to cherish the moment, though, as Oklahoma State is set to square off against No. 1 seed UCLA on Monday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Pauley Pavilion. But for Hoyt, the quick turnaround is part of why she loves what she does.
"You get to keep playing," she told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday. "You get to keep competing. In my case, I get to keep coaching a team that I love. That's the joy. The madness of it, the work is the joy. The journey is the joy."
Hoyt said after Saturday's game, she enjoyed a small moment with her family, put her daughter to bed and got right back on the saddle, pulling an all-nighter to watch film and prepare for theBruins, the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament.
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"That's the grind of it that you love. Competitors love that. I think coaches love that," she said. "That sort of thing is what makes this time of year so special."
Across from Hoyt on the sideline on Monday will be UCLA head coach Cori Close, who Hoyt says has been someone she's admired.
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"Cori Close is a coach that probably doesn't realize the impact that she's had on me as a head coach," Hoyt said. "I have so much respect for her and the way that she goes about things. So this is kind of a surreal opportunity for me to get to be up against a head coach that I have so much respect for."
Their connection goes back to when Hoyt was an assistant coach at Nevada from 2011-14 under then-head coach Jane Albright, who is close friends with Close. During her frequent recruiting trips to the West Coast while with the Wolf Pack, Hoyt recalls Close's graciousness and kindness, always inviting her to practice, handing her a practice plan for the day and letting her observe.
From the outside looking in, the biggest thing Hoyt took from Close was her mentorship. Just from the way she went about everything, it was clear to her Close took pride in being a teacher to her athletes — in both the game and in life.
"That's someone that I want to be as a coach and aspire to be and try to be every day," Hoyt said. "I don't think there's a lot of coaches who are really driven by that honestly, unfortunately, but I do think that she's one of those coaches. I'm really grateful for the example that she has set with that."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Oklahoma State coach to face friend in Women's NCAA Tournament second round
