KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — We talked to Bree Hall off-podium tonight in Knoxville, so here's some exlusive quotes from South Carolina's guard about the 66-55 win over Tennessee.
Commenting on Dawn Staley's quote about how she felt like they were going to lose:
"I think it was a bit sluggish, but I'm glad that we cleaned it up in that second half."
On what changed late:
"I think honestly, it was just our mindset. We went into halftime like, 'we got this, we got 20 more minutes, and we're still in this game.' And that's what we did."
On what helped them grind this one out:
"Honestly, like she said, we are complete competitors to the next level, and we're never hanging our heads. As down as we get, we are never like, 'oh yeah, we are out of the game.' We are always like, 'Oh yeah, we can make a comeback, let's score and let's get a stop.'"
On the rough outside shooting:
"Tennessee did a good job scouting us, and that's going to happen. Every team is of course trying to figure out a new way to stop us, so I give them their props on that. I think a little bit of it was us trying to find the right shot, and making sure that we finish our shot. That was another thing that we really struggled with, finishing our shot and staying in the shot."
On Kamilla Cardoso's return:
"When I saw Kamilla, boy, we were so excited to see her. Just having her back out there was amazing, and we greeted her with lots of hugs. She knows she feels the love from us, and tonight, I mean, just having her out there to help me calm down. I feel like we kind of match each other's energy in that, we always are there to just calm each other down, making sure we're telling each other good job, we've got this, and just having her out there tonight was really good."
On Raven Johnson's rebounding:
"That's amazing. I'm so proud of her. I know I was not on tonight specifically, but she was always there by my side telling me to stay in the game and keep myself level-headed."
On what she saw on that big late 3:
"I just was feeling it. Te-Hina threw me a great pass, and I felt like it was going to go in."
Commenting on Dawn Staley's quote about how she felt like they were going to lose:
"I think it was a bit sluggish, but I'm glad that we cleaned it up in that second half."
On what changed late:
"I think honestly, it was just our mindset. We went into halftime like, 'we got this, we got 20 more minutes, and we're still in this game.' And that's what we did."
On what helped them grind this one out:
"Honestly, like she said, we are complete competitors to the next level, and we're never hanging our heads. As down as we get, we are never like, 'oh yeah, we are out of the game.' We are always like, 'Oh yeah, we can make a comeback, let's score and let's get a stop.'"
On the rough outside shooting:
"Tennessee did a good job scouting us, and that's going to happen. Every team is of course trying to figure out a new way to stop us, so I give them their props on that. I think a little bit of it was us trying to find the right shot, and making sure that we finish our shot. That was another thing that we really struggled with, finishing our shot and staying in the shot."
On Kamilla Cardoso's return:
"When I saw Kamilla, boy, we were so excited to see her. Just having her back out there was amazing, and we greeted her with lots of hugs. She knows she feels the love from us, and tonight, I mean, just having her out there to help me calm down. I feel like we kind of match each other's energy in that, we always are there to just calm each other down, making sure we're telling each other good job, we've got this, and just having her out there tonight was really good."
On Raven Johnson's rebounding:
"That's amazing. I'm so proud of her. I know I was not on tonight specifically, but she was always there by my side telling me to stay in the game and keep myself level-headed."
On what she saw on that big late 3:
"I just was feeling it. Te-Hina threw me a great pass, and I felt like it was going to go in."
