Gamecocks Star Bree Hall Makes Confession After Win Against Duke
After the South Carolina Gamecocks’ Elite Eight win against Duke, star player Bree Hall had a confession to make. During the post-game press conference, Hall admitted that near the end of the game, she felt like she was going to have a meltdown under all the pressure. But a coach’s calming presence helped Hall center herself.
The Gamecocks’ 54-50 win came down to the last few seconds of the game. Duke trailed 52-50 when Hall was called for a foul that gave Duke a chance to tie it. But Duke didn’t pull through. Ashlon Jackson airballed a three-point attempt and Hall caught the rebound, with Staley quickly calling for a timeout. After Chloe Kitts was fouled with 5.7 seconds left and made both free throws, the lead was widened to 54-50 and the Gamecocks won.
A reporter asked Hall during the post-game press conference, “You had the charge and then you caught the airball for the three-pointer last shot… Most nerve-wracking 20 or so seconds of your life or career?”
“I’d definitely say yeah,” Hall replied. “It was great because when I got that charge, our coach, Coach Mary (Wooley) came up to me and she was like, ‘It’s OK, you know, it’s all right, you have to get the defensive stop.’ And I was like, ‘OK, let me just turn the page as quick as possible.’ Cuz I was about to have a meltdown, I ain’t gonna lie.”
Thanks to the coach’s advice, she re-centered herself.
“But I just flipped the page and I was ready to catch that rebound,” Hall said.
Earlier in the game, it was Coach Dawn Staley’s calm energy that helped the team at halftime, Hall shared later during the press conference.
“It was a really calm environment,” she said. “We at halftime just kind of came together, talked about different things that we saw out there and felt like we needed to do different… We just needed to change a few things… It was just our calm energy that helped a lot. I felt like coach is always calm with us and telling us what we need to do. And I think we did a good job executing.”
