Sedona Prince explains how her viral TikTok has helped change the women’s NCAA Tournament

Oregon Ducks F Sedona Prince spoke with Yahoo Sports women’s basketball expert Cassandra Negley about Oregon’s chances to make noise in the NCAA Tournament, how her viral TikTok from the 2021 NCAA Tournament inspired change, and how she is inspiring a new generation of women to speak up for equality.

Sedona Prince joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of TIAA. TIAA partnered with ambassadors across women’s basketball to share personal stories around the impact of Title IX, with the goal of raising awareness and inspiring everyone to work together to close the gap and #retireinequality for good.

Video Transcript

[CROWD CHEERING]

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: We're here with Sedona Prince with the Oregon Ducks. Sedona, Oregon has had an up and down season. I'm wondering with all of the injuries this year, was there a team motto or a mantra that you guys had to get through and keep playing at the high level that you guys have played at?

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, absolutely. Our motto this year was "bend don't break." It was something we kind of said in the locker room for a while. But this year it means a lot to us, just because we did have a lot of injuries in the beginning of the season. Three out of five of our starters were down for a couple of months.

And even in close games, it matters. Bend-- we bend as a team. Teams are going go on runs. We're going to go through hard times. But don't let it break you and just sit together. So that's what we're-- we're going by this motto this year. So hopefully it works out for us.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: So Oregon can definitely surprise a lot of people in the tournament. What is one aspect of the game that, for fans watching, if they see you do this aspect well, they know you can make a good deep run?

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, I think something for us right now is just to play together as a team, just to gel. It's been kind of hard for us this whole season, just because injuries back and forth. And so we've kind of had to change up and switch roles for everyone since the beginning of the season. So it's going to-- it's been just adjusting the whole year.

So I think if we can just come together as a team, if our defensive game kind of gets better-- we're one of the best defensive teams in the Pac-12. But to be a legitimate team, we have to definitely hone that in, because we can score so well.

So you know-- I don't know. If you see us just really playing together, having fun out there, that's when we play our best. So we are a dangerous team, a lot of potential. So I'm excited to see where we go.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: One place we see you a lot is TikTok. And I need to tell you that last year-- I have friends who are not into basketball at all-- they were sending me your TikTok, making sure I knew about it. They were like, do you know what's going on? Are you doing anything about it?

So one year later, what has it been like for you to go from being a basketball player with a voice to someone with so much cross-interest appeal, a headline maker, and your voice has so much more weight than it had before?

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah. It's definitely been an adjustment. You know, that whole time where I was going to the weight room stuff and all these different news outlets, I just kind of had to be like, oh, my goodness, you know, my voice really is strong, really is-- can be loud and heard across the country. So it kind of empowered me to speak up for a lot of things other than just basketball and women's sports, and kind of got to feel a different role in my community as a queer woman.

So a lot of things. It's been really fun, also, to kind of share my story through basketball, bring along people to watch women's sports and share stories of my team, of myself. So it's really been empowering. I've had a fun time through it. And yeah, I mean, it's all about the journey. So I'm going to continue to do it. But yeah.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: What changes have you seen in this season since that TikTok during the tournament?

SEDONA PRINCE: Oh. I mean, quite a few. First of all, you know, it's always-- it's still being talked about. Now the tournament's coming up, we're hoping that that equality that we were fighting for last year is there from the beginning as soon as we arrive. So, you know, that-- people are talking about it and just kind of gathering around us.

Another thing is the March Madness branding, of course, is a big thing, that we're getting the same respect and treatment as the men's teams. And so, you know, hopefully that just sticks through, we don't have to kind of backtrack and make it a big deal again. We just want to have a normal tournament, normal season, respect, and just to play our game.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: That's a good way to put it. Because you were-- you ended up being the face of this, right? Have you had players reach out to you this year asking what they can do or asking for your advice on how they can use their own voice for this cause that we constantly seem to be talking about?

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, of course. I get a lot of DMs, especially from high school athletes. I think it's really special just to see younger kids reach out to me and say, hey, Sedona, how do I use my voice at a young age? What do I do? This thing is bothering me, that is, this inequality.

So it's pretty cool. But yeah, from the college aspect as well, definitely kids have, on the volleyball side as well, reached out to me when they feel inequality and asked just how do they use their platform. And also in this new NIL era. I get reached out to a lot. Hey, how do I use that platform for good? How do I grow my social media? How do I do all this stuff?

And so helping them has been fun for me. Just empowering them and kind of giving them the tools and tips has been a blast.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: So you're here with TIAA. You're teaming up with them. Can you tell us about the partnership?

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, absolutely. Me and TIAA have partnered up and a bunch of other women athletes and basketball players, just to, you know, speak up and to kind of change this whole stigma around retirement and the wage gap between-- it's like 30% between men and women. And so yeah. I mean, just to kind of empower women, talk about it, is the biggest thing for us. We have all these Dawn Staley and Caitlin Clark and all these people that have a massive platform and all this pull-in power. And so being able to partner with them and make a true difference is pretty cool.

And yeah, I think it's pretty special as well during this NIL era, just all these people-- all these athletes are making all this money. And now we get to truly learn the tools and tips to retire with it and use it the rest of our lives.

CASSANDRA NEGLEY: Thank you for being here with us at Yahoo Sports.

SEDONA PRINCE: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.