A sampling of quotes from the open locker room portion of today's media after the Gamecocks beat Texas A&M 79-68 in the SEC Quarterfinals:
MiLaysia Fulwiley:
On her first postseason game:
"It was great. It was good competitivness. I was just out there getting used to things and seeing how it feels, and will come out more ready tomorrow."
"I feel like everything is a little harder. Everyone is working a little harder than they usually do. So I feel like you've got to keep your composure a little more than usual and know what you're going in there for and what's the main goal."
On Tessa's block:
"I was like, 'gimme that!' I mean, you're 6-1, 6-2, something like that, so I feel like that was a good block."
Said she's never seen her do that in practice but she "knows Tessa is capable of something like that."
Sania Feagin
On Tessa's block:
"I'd give her a 10 out of 10 because she got her block, she got her first block. But I will have to tell her, she's going to have to jump a little bit higher so she can get a little higher. And her little run-off, you've got to show a little 'OOMPH' after you block a shot."
On the game overall:
"It's just something we need to work on. We need to work on our turnovers in the first half just to get better offensively and defensively. We didn't play our best game, but we've got more to come. It was just one of those days."
Sakima Walker
On Tessa's block:
"Tessa's block today...I'd give her.....a 7, maybe seven and a half. I think that the height, and then the reaction, those are points. The reaction after the block, the height you get on the block, she had no reaction. If she had a little reaction I'd have been like, that's a 10. But the block overall was good. It was good help defense, good rotation, all of that."
On her game:
"She played a really good game. I was really, really happy for her, and I smiled about it. She played a really good game offensively, defensively, she's just been really putting it all together the past few games honestly as far as being disciplined and making the right play and being confident in her shot and to put the ball on the floor. And then defensively being solid and just playing those bigger guards that are able to post up. I think she's doing a really good job of that."
By the way, Walker said she has not made a decision about if she will return to Columbia next season with her final year of eligibility.
Kamilla Cardoso
On Tessa's block:
"I give her a 10. She got up!"
On her reaction:
"I was really happy, I don't have the clip but I was really happy. I was jumping."
On the performance today:
"I think for the first game we did a great job, we just have some things to clean up and we will do that for tomorrow."
Te-Hina Paopao
On Tessa's block:
I"m going to give it a 12. don't think I've ever seen her do that in a game. Just seeing her do that in a game was actually awesome, and I think everyone was surprised that she got that."
On a win after a sloppy performance:
"We're going to look at the film and see what we can do to do better, and the best thing is that we've got to take care of the ball. I think that's what the main priority was today, and we didn't do our job. And I feel like as a team collectively we didn't feel satisfied. I feel like today was a hard Winstead of a win that we want or would usually want to get. We just have to come back tomorrow locked in and focus on taking care of the ball."
"We're just not satisfied. I think today's game was just a get by, and we barely got by. We're just going to come in tomorrow locked in. We've got to do what the scouting report says and focus on us and be who we are."
Chloe Kitts
On Tessa's block:
"It was slow, but it was like a 9. I say 9. We were watching the video and she was like, 'wow, that was a slow block. I felt like it was in slow motion, but I think it's a 9, especially for her. It would be a 10 if she celebrated more today."
On the overall game today:
"Overall we have a lot to work on. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half. In the whole game , actually, but coach brought us together and we pulled through."
Ashlyn Watkins
"She gets a 6. She gets a 6."
On what she needs to do to improve: "Jump."
On the turnovers:
"Don't dwell on it. You can't think about the mistakes that we're making. You just have to turn the page. We can't let that define how we're going to play, we just have to turn the page."
On what clicked in the second half:
"Just internally and everyone telling me, 'Come on Ash, don't dwell on the mistakes.' I feel like I was just in my own head and thinking too hard. Everyone was just trying to help me while I was inside out."
On who the best motivator on the bench is:
"Definitely Lay, MiLaysia definitely. I will probably go to her."
Said MiLaysia told her that the team needed her and that she's better than this."
Raven Johnson also gave the block a 10 as we were walking out of open locker room.
On the block:
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