NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - HOWARD VS SOUTH CAROLINA

March 18, 2022

Dawn Staley

Bree Hall

LeLe Grissett

South Carolina Gamecocks

Media Conference

South Carolina 79, Howard 21

DAWN STALEY: It was just great to get back out there and get our feet wet and play against some competition.

Just want to congratulate Howard as well on getting to the tournament and getting their first win, a first NCAA tournament win in the history of their program.

I'm sure Coach Ty will get them back and they'll have plenty of success in the future.

Q. Bree, seems like you're getting more and more comfortable every game, and that's been going on since mid-season. How good do you feel going out there knowing you can make and immediate impact if asked?

BREE HALL: Going out there ans having the confidence from my coaches and my teammates, it feels great just going out there and just knowing that I can make an impact and just do the things I do with confidence. It just really helps make our team better.

Q. I guess LeLe, knowing where you were this time last year, how fun is it to be out there and be able to play today?

LELE GRISSETT: It was really fun being on home court and having a fans here, family, and just the support period. I love like playing here. This is home for us.

Q. LeLe, as a follow up to that, just curious, take us through your mind a little bit pre-game. Any emotions? I know there is one more game here for you, but after Sunday you won't get to play manage this building anymore.

LELE GRISSETT: Honestly I haven't thought about Sunday because today's game was today's game. When Sunday gets here, then I'm going to feel it. It happens in the moment for some reason. It'll hit you really soon.

Q. Ladies, obviously you're up by 40 at the half and they've only got 4 points. How easy is it to keep the focus for the second half?

LELE GRISSETT: Just doing what we need to do, keeping our foot on the gas. You know, don't let nothing up, because we just got to play our game no matter what the score is.

BREE HALL: I think there was a really big emphasis going into this game on going out there and finishing the fourth quarter. I think we went into halftime thinking to ourselves, We got to keep the lead up, keep building on the lead, go out there and play hard and just keep doing what we're doing.

Because the last recent games we haven't been finishing the fourth quarter, so going out there and the way we finished the fourth quarter, it was really good.

Q. LeLe, what does it mean to have a game like this, especially coming off the disappointment in the SEC tournament, to build the momentum and the confidence for the rest of the NCAA tournament?

LELE GRISSETT: It means a lot. You know, winning this game gave us more fire. One little loss or another loss, you know, you got to bounce back from that and this game helps us with the energy and the mindset we had today.

Q. Bree, just for you as a freshman coming into your first NCAA tournament at South Carolina, what's the week of prep been like and what was it like today getting out there and the lights and everything, the excitement?

BREE HALL: Okay, so the week prep, it's been really hard. We been having some tough, tough practices, going at it, going really hard.

I think going out there though, it was just like just go out there and play your game. I know going into these next couple games is going to be a lot more pressure and there might be more nerves because you never know what will happen. Of course we want the outcome to be a W, but I know there will be a lot more pressure and probably be a little more nervous.

I just know if I go out there and stay confident, results will happen.

Q. LeLe, just seeing players like Olivia Thompson get out there and make some big shots, talk to me a little bit about how you guys feel when those things happen out there.

LELE GRISSETT: Honestly, it felt amazing. We been practicing hard, so for her to make that shot, that's amazing thing. Everybody went crazy for anybody to make a shot. Like coming in and making an impact means a lot.

Q. This is probably more for LeLe and Coach Staley. Are you guys seeing any of the changes you're hoping to see when it comes to equity compared from this tournament to last year? Seeing changes in progress you're hoping to see?

LELE GRISSETT: Honestly, I really haven't seen what the boys got, but what we have, I don't think it's a difference. Still feels the same from last year.

I seen a couple videos of girls putting on a shirt and they lift up they arms and it's like right there.

You know, it's not -- no, it's not equal. I don't think so.

BREE HALL: Oh, I don't really know. I haven't really seen any of the boy's stuff to be honest. I saw last year that it was a really big difference between the men's and the women's, but I really don't know if I can answer that question.

Q. You guys held them to eight points in the first three quarters. Did you look up at the scoreboard and think, This has to be a mistake?

BREE HALL: No. I kind of looked up at the scoreboard like, This is what we do. I know this is what we should always be doing against every team.

LELE GRISSETT: What Bree said. Exactly. (Smiling.)

DAWN STALEY I'll answer that equity question. Yeah, there is a big difference. The signage, you walk around the arena and you see the visiting side, what's happening. A lot of signage. It's a lot -- it feels different. Like it doesn't feel like we're at our home gym.

I know it's an advantage for us, but you can't tell from walking around the building and seeing all the signage. So it's a really good start to shedding some of the inequities that occur prior to this tournament, and it's cool for the first year.

But we got to look way down the years, five, six, seven years, as a many years as it took for them to uncover what was happening to our tournament.

So great start. Let's just continue to lift our tournament up, and hopefully we'll find ourselves in a revenue-producing tournament.

Q. Anything you would like to see immediately?

DAWN STALEY: Immediate? Yeah. The units. Like men's basketball they get units, and those units equal dollar signs.

I would like for us to divvy it up like the 68 teams get divvied up once the tournament ends.

Q. Looking at the game, they did what pretty much everybody does, try to make it a zone, packing five into the paint. Did you like your team's aggression toward attacking that zone, or do you think there was too much reliance on threes early?

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, I mean, you know, when a team plays as far off as they played us, it does take a stab at your confidence and your ability to knock down shots.

You know, our team had the final rhythm. I don't they think took bad shots. I think they rely heavily on taking the outside shot, and when we start working the ball around and giving the post players some looks, really helps balance things out.

I know we can't have another game shooting-wise like we did and expect us to win basketball games, so we got to find a way to get the ball to go in the hole for us.

Q. Hey, Dawn, I wanted to ask about Kamilla and Rivers. I think I noticed Kamilla head into the tunnel with a trainer. Is she doing all right? Is she expected to miss any time? And the same with Rivers. Didn't see her play today. Just wanted to see what was up with her.

DAWN STALEY I mean, I don't know about Kamilla because I came straight from the locker room here.

Then Rivers is just coach's decision.

Q. Dawn, 13 players scoring today. When you have a game like this where you can empty the bench in the second half, how beneficial is it to get those players on the bench really substantial minutes to start the tournament?

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, it's been a tough road for some of the players that don't play a whole lot. But they come and practice and they're on the scout team and they help us prepare.

A lot times they don't get a chance to express themselves on the basketball court and make an impact.

I thought that the players that got in before them really created this and they gave us a cushion to where we can get them out there. I thought they played extremely well. The last five on the floor shared the ball, worked inside out.

It was good for them to play extended minutes and do some good things out there for us.

Q. Dawn, you mentioned the shooting. Is there anything going on with Zia? She was 2-15 from the field today, 1-10 from three. Is it a confidence thing or is there something technical going on with her?

DAWN STALEY: I don't think so. I mean, I think Zia likes the ball going in, and she's going to keep shooting until she gets one to fall.

I don't -- you know, I don't think it's a physical thing. When you don't hit shots it could play with us mentally and psychologically, but doesn't stop her from shooting. And I don't want to stop her from shooting.

If she's shooting good shots she puts us in a position to rebound the basketball. So she is taking expected shots and we ended up getting 30 offensive rebounds, so...

Q. Dawn, I know there is a gap in talent between your team, the one that you built, and obviously what Howard had. For the coaching staff, what do you feel like are just those immediate takeaways from the defensive performance tonight and how can you carry that over?

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, we defend. We were pretty locked in with what we prepped for. I thought we made a concerted effort to get the 50/50 balls and loose balls. That's something that's been on our radar for quite sometime. I thought we won that department.

Because when you're playing in the NCAA tournament, are you going to be able to execute? Yeah, sometimes. You know, probably 25% of the time. The rest of the time is going to be broken plays, going to be defenses that will defend your first and second option.

It's what can you do when you have to make a play? What do you do when you have to -- when there are loose balls and hustle plays? What do you do in those moments?

Those are the moments when basketball games are won and lost. We want to make sure that if we're not shooting the ball extremely well, we're getting ourselves in the position to get a lot more possessions.

Q. Dawn, not sure if you did, but early word from the staff, have you got to look at Miami from the early game?

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, we did. They're playing extremely well, shooting the ball well. They got players that can knock it down from outside. They got some inside players who are very physical. It's going to be a bear to deal with them down there.

But for us, we got to pack our defense. I do think hopefully we'll get -- we got a pretty good crowd for a 2:00 game, so I don't know when we'll play on Sunday, but I'm sure our fans will pack the house and apply the energy that needs to be in the building to get a win against Miami.

Q. Dominating performance. How do you think this sets the tone for the rest of the tournament, and what is the tone you're setting?

DAWN STALEY: I mean, it was -- you know, we haven't played in a long time. I thought it was pretty good defensively. Some things we need to take care of; hitting some shots from an offensive standpoint; did a great job rebounding the basketball.

The things we are pretty good at we performed at a high level. The things that we are inconsistent at, you know, that's where we were.

So got play a little bit better offensively on Sunday in order for us to really continue on in this tournament.

But I like what we did offensively, defensively, in the hustle plays, and I like the fact that we were able to play everyone.

Q. LeLe, last year she wasn't able to play in the tournament because she was injured. What's that been like for you seeing her this season, and how excited were you for her to get back out there today?

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, I mean, with LeLe, you know, I think it's comforting having her available to play, available to practice. Like what you see out there is how she's been every day that she's been able to practice with us for the last five years.

You know, for her to come back and be able to participate in an NCAA tournament by actually playing, it helps her, helps us, and super excited. We get to host, so our fans get a chance to see her and send her off hopefully the right way with getting another win.

Q. Dawn, every year the team's different. Curious, at the beginning of every tournament run, the first game, what is it that you as the head coach try to look for and notice and observe maybe in the first two, three, four, five minutes of the game just to tell you where your team is from a mental standpoint?

DAWN STALEY: I mean, obviously our players have been together for a very long time. Like our starters have started, I mean, probably well over 60 games at least. So I know how they're going to start the game. It may not be shooting lights out, but the other categories, the defense, the rebounding, the loose balls, those type of things that I look at to see where we are.

We really can't gauge from an offensive standpoint because it's just been really inconsistent. Just outside shots.

So I mean, once they're fired up and locked in defensively, everything else seems to fall into place.

Q. I know we talked about the players coming off the bench. Could you elaborate more on Bree Hall and Sania Feagin, just what you saw from them today?

DAWN STALEY: Bree Hall and Sania Feagin, I think they're going to be stars. I do. I just feel like they understand what needs to take place. They just aren't experienced, so they lack some experience.

You know, but they're moving the needle in practice. I know Feagin is in a precarious situation where we just got a lot of post players, but she's getting better. You can see the growth in practice.

Then when we put her out there, you know, it's just hard to get her minutes, but she's working. She's working in practice. You see in the time that she got, the ten minutes, she got 10 points and seven rebounds, and a pretty assist on the kick out.

So that was Feagin.

And Bree Hall has been our first up off the bench because she's earned it by being coachable, by understanding what we want, by understanding her role.

We just got to continue to get her some more experience so next year we're not starting from ground zero.

Q. Hey, coach, I know you do a lot to support other coaches, kind of look out for them and help them. Is there a message that you have for Coach Ty after the game? Anything you can share or just with her and her program?

DAWN STALEY: I just congratulated her. I know their are future is super bright. I think Ty wants to do great in this profession, and, you know, this is a notch in her belt, because she got the first win being a part of the First Four.

I know that her success will definitely bring a lot of attention to other opportunities. Not that I want her -- Howard to lose her, but when you're successful in this business, you know, it's an attractive thing.

She's putting herself in the position to do that.