The UW-Green Bay womens basketball program had a special season, making its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance in their first year under head coach Kayla Karius, who came back to coach her alma mater. Karius sat down wit h NBC 26 to talk about what the past year has been like for her since she was hired and whats next. The Phoenix will look a lot different next year, losing seven seniors. The UWGB head coach recently signed an extension through the 2030-2031 season.It's been amazing, its been fun, its been challenging, said Karius. There's a lot of words to describe it, but it has kept moving really fast and (Im) really grateful for the last 11 months too. One person, among many, who Karius was able to lean on all year was the man she replaced, legendary coach Kevin Borseth. You usually could find him at a Phoenix practice.He has so much value as far as his experience goes and thats not just in game, but its preparing your players, said the Phoenix head coach. It's teaching your players. Its handling off court situations. Theres a lot of things I've been bending his ear about this last year.The program's six returning seniors (one other came in via transfer this year) saw success before Karius was hired. Her initial message to them was: "I'm not going to change everything, but theres things we can do better to take the next step." I dont think we would have been as successful as we were without those seniors especially, because they are the leadership team and people look to them, said Karius. Without them being open minded and welcoming myself and our staff in, we wouldnt have gone as far as we did. Karius said there were moments during the 2024-25 season when she had to pinch herself, especially during player introductions - when the lights dim down and sunlight peaks through a Kress Center window on Saturdays. However, with how fast paced the new era of college is she said what they accomplished, a Horizon League regular season and championship title, a 22-game win streak to get to the NCAA tourney, hasnt sunk in yet.We are busy at work trying to make sure that we are finding the right people to replace what we just lost, said Karius. Which is such a tremendous senior class. This offseason, Karius has already brought in two transfers; in addition, she has five roster spots she can still fill. When recruiting players, she said Green Bay has everything a player is looking for, from great fans, to a winning culture and finishing with a college degree.Our basketball program speaks for itself, but if you want a chance to make your mark, to play for a conference championship, to see your name up on the screen on Selection Sunday and play in the big dance, then this place can give you that opportunity, said Karius who has now made an NCAA tourney appearance as a coach and a player for UWGB.She said she is excited to make this team her own, and the focus in recruiting is to keep her team filled with local players, who she says, do all the little things right and bring the communities with them.For example, you have Cassie Schiltz from Luxemburg, I think they filled up 40 seats behind the bench between her family and her supporters and her coaches from high school, Karius said. I think its a model that is not broken, so why change it? Not only is she a coach, she's a wife and a mom. Karius said she's thrilled to be a small part of the surge of women being able to have a family, while also being in a leadership role. Although she says it takes a village - like a supportive staff, husband, parents and in-laws - eventually you find the balance between the two.The super mom thing is really cool, but I certainly don't take alot of credit for much, she said. ...read more read less