SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2021

Aliyah Boston

South Carolina Gamecocks

Postgame Press Conference

South Carolina 67, Tennessee 52

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Aliyah Boston. Questions, please.

Q. It seemed like you guys were really trying to be deliberate and patient on offense, to work the ball around, then to get it inside to you. If you could score, fine, if not kick it out.

ALIYAH BOSTON: Yeah, Coach the past couple days before coming into the tournament, she really talked to us about being deliberate, staying on our line, just being strong with whatever we do. Getting the ball inside was definitely something we worked on. If I didn't have a shot, I was able to kick it back out and we were able to work the offense from there.

Q. The game tonight got very, very physical. A lot of activities going on. This team has been accused a lot this year of wanting to be friends with everybody. A technical tonight. What were your thoughts on not letting them push you around?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I mean, Coach, she has said that we're a little bit too nice on the court. When we get pushed, sometimes we don't push back. I think coming into this tournament, we had a different mindset.

Yeah, Zia got a tech. But I think it was her standing her ground, making sure she stayed strong. Tennessee is a physical team. We just had to be ready for that.

Q. On the first play of the game, it seemed like from that moment on when you got the ball, you made the drop step, you squared up, and scored. You were there to impose your will. At some point it looked like a little mad Kiki came out. They even commented on TV about it. Were you out there trying to impose your will and be nasty in this revenge game against Tennessee?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I mean, I just wanted to be physical and just be dominant. Coaches have really talked to me about that over the course of the season, just continuing to be dominant. So I was really just trying my best to kind of not let any possession go off where I wasn't as dominant as I needed to be.

Q. How important was that third quarter for you guys to kind of extend the lead a little bit, keep that separation given what happened in the first game against Tennessee and also yesterday?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I mean, the third quarter it's important. All of them are, but teams really come out strong, especially if they're down, just coming out in third quarter aggressive, trying to get their shots off. We really just had to stay locked in. I think we did a pretty good job of that. They just tried to keep pushing the ball in transition. So I think we did a pretty good job matching up.

Q. How do you feel stepping out take those three-pointers? You're willing to take them sometimes. Are we going to see you willing to keep stepping out to the three-point line throughout this tournament?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I'm definitely willing to step out. I'm just going to make sure I'm taking a three because it's a good shot, not because it's just the first pass and I'm wide open.

I think my teammates did a great job of finding me on the three-point line when it was pretty open for me to take the shot.

Q. Not only has Dawn talked about getting off to a hot start, she said she wanted to see you guys play a full, complete 40 minutes. Do you feel like today was the most complete game you've played all season?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I think so. I think from the start, we were locked in and we were playing great defense, and our offense was moving. I would say this is pretty much the first game where we played a complete 40.

Q. How did you feel coming in here as a No. 2 seed knowing that maybe the favorite was Texas A&M? Was that important to kind of prove that? What do you remember about facing Jenna Staiti, who you'll bump around with tomorrow in the finals?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I mean, to the tournament, as a 2 seed, I mean, we still had the same mindset even though we weren't No. 1. It didn't matter, we were just coming in to play and win.

Jenna is a great player. I'm really excited for that. Just ready to play against her.

Q. Tennessee was the team that stopped the long winning streak in SEC play. How does it feel to get another shot at them tonight, then to get the results, a big win over them in the rematch?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I mean, it's exciting because they did beat us in the regular season. Then coming into this game, we knew it was kind of a rematch game, and we wanted to come out on top.

Q. How exciting is it to be back in your second SEC Championship game? You were able to avenge the Tennessee loss. Any disappointment you're not going to get an opportunity to avenge the Texas A&M loss tomorrow?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I'm excited that we're in the championship game. I think our team has just worked really hard. We've done a great job so far in the tournament.

When it comes to Texas A&M, I mean, if they were in the championship, we'd have loved to play them again. We're really just focused on Georgia.

Q. I know it's a real big turnout from the Gamecock fans tonight. Do you feel like they gave y'all some extra energy?

ALIYAH BOSTON: I definitely think they did. We heard them from the jump and the possession. So we definitely heard them all game. I'm just so thankful that the fans were here.

Q. You had a good game tonight, very aggressive, double-double with a couple blocks and a steal. How do you feel with the quick turnaround playing tomorrow at an earlier time? Do you think you can keep that back up?

ALIYAH BOSTON: Oh, absolutely. We just have to stay locked in. It's another game. We have some time off just to kind of recover, then we just got to be ready for them tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

ALIYAH BOSTON: Thank you.