Everything Kamilla Cardoso, Te-Hina Paopao, and Raven Johnson said after the Iowa game
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South Carolina defeated Iowa, 87-75, on Sunday to win the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Following the game, Gamecock players Kamilla Cardoso, Te-Hina Paopao, and Raven Johnson spoke with the media. Here is what they had to say.
Q. Raven, Caitlin had the big start, 18 points in the first quarter. You got the defensive assignment primarily after that and really cooled her off. What was your mindset going into that matchup?
RAVEN JOHNSON: Don’t let her score. I was ready for the moment. And I take defense very hard, like I take it to heart.
I studied her moves, and I was ready. I had confidence this year. I was telling myself last year’s not going to happen again.
Q. Following up on that, Raven, can you explain what this means to you after — you know, you’ve talked so much about the entire last year and the work that you put in. This is where you wanted to be. And now to be here in this moment, what does that mean to you?
RAVEN JOHNSON: It means a lot to do it with this group of girls. If you guys would have seen us, just the stuff we went through in the summer and the hard work we put in, we deserve this honestly.
Coach, she gives us so much leeway. She let us be loose. She just let us be who we are. It’s just so much stuff that we go through.
Credit to the Freshies. I gave my net to Aaliyah Boston when I was interviewing with her. It started with her. She gave this leadership role, and she instilled this leadership role last year. There’s no better way you can learn than from her.
Q. Kamilla and Te-Hina, I’m curious, we talked about Raven’s defense. Both her and Bree kind of gave different looks at Caitlin all game. From you guys’ perspective, how much does that help when you’re able to have two versatile defenders on her? I guess, how does that help you guys as well as the whole team?
KAMILLA CARDOSO: I think it’s really important. I feel like they do a great job on defense. And just by seeing how hard they play makes us want to play defense harder.
TE-HINA PAOPAO: I thought they had the hardest job tonight, but it was also team defense. It took a lot of effort to guard Caitlin. And she did her thing, and we did ours.
Just to have these elite defenders on our team, it makes me want to play defense. It makes me want to play for them even harder. It’s just amazing when you have good defenders like them.
It’s not only them, it’s the whole team. So I’m just really proud of them for what they did tonight. They did awesome. They did a great job.
Q. To not just win the championship, but to be able to say you were able to accomplish a perfect season, what does that perfection going down in the history books mean to you?
RAVEN JOHNSON: It means a lot to make history, be one of the teams to make history, especially with a young group. You guys just don’t know what this team goes through, what this team do. It’s daycare, yeah, it is daycare. But at the same time, when we step on the court, we’re ready to play.
When the ball goes up, we’re ready to play. We have a winning mentality, and we’re so competitive. Our practices are so hard, especially against the Highlighters. We have a competitive edge, and we want to win.
TE-HINA PAOPAO: Yeah, it just means so much. We’ve come a long way. It’s been a long journey. We’ve trusted each other so much over the season. We have so much confidence with each other, so much love. We’re going to sound like a broken record, but it’s love throughout this whole program, throughout this whole team.
We genuinely love to be with each other. We genuinely want to see everyone succeed. It’s been a great journey, and to cap it off with a perfect season, it’s just a blessing. And all glory to God for that.
Q. Kamilla, what does Dawn mean to you, what she is as a coach and a person, and what she’s been able to do within the program and helping you individually?
KAMILLA CARDOSO: She means a lot to me. I feel like, since the first day I got to South Carolina, she’s been working so hard to get me ready and prepared for moments like this. I’m just so thankful to have her as a coach. She’s like an inspiration for me and a lot of young girls out there.
I’m just so thankful to have her as a coach. She’s the best in the business, you already know.
Q. Your team had 48 points in the paint and 51 rebounds, 18 offensive. How were you able to dominate inside so well during the game?
KAMILLA CARDOSO: I think just trying to get the post-ups and my teammates finding me and giving me the ball, even though I didn’t shoot really good tonight. I think just by — we just move the ball really good, and they were able to find me while I was open.
Q. Kamilla, it’s been less than 48 hours since you injured your knee. I’m just wondering how limited — how much treatment did you have to get, and what did you have to do? Did it affect you at all today? It certainly doesn’t look like it on the stat sheet.
KAMILLA CARDOSO: I got a lot of treatment between yesterday and today. But I don’t think it really affected me today. I was just able to go out there and play. I wanted to play for this team, play for our coaches. And I just wanted to go out there and play today.
Q. Every player, every team is motivated by something different. I’m just curious, for all three of you, how much you were motivated by what happened last year against Iowa? And did you want to see them in the national championship game this year?
RAVEN JOHNSON: I did want to see them in the national championship this year because what happened last year. It was apology to my teammates, my coaches and myself. And I just feel like, like I said, it was a revenge tour. And there’s no better way than to play them in the championship and beat them.
Q. Raven, talk a little bit about that last four minutes. I think it was 80-75, and then you guys didn’t let them score the rest of the way. Talk about the defense the last, I think, 4:12. And also with so many people coming back, minus Kamilla, how good this team could be, not only now, but for the next couple of years.
RAVEN JOHNSON: This team, we’re going to be good. Coach Staley, we have the best coach, what, in the country, in the nation, in the whole wide world? It’s no telling what she’s going to add to the pieces that’s already here. I just say be on the lookout.
Q. Kamilla, it was just a month ago in the SEC Championship game that things got ugly, and that was just all over the news. Then you have been dominant throughout the NCAA Tournament. I wondered how did you shift your mindset, if you did? Then what was it like to just play so well in the two biggest games of the season over the weekend?
KAMILLA CARDOSO: It was amazing. I feel like I just wanted to get out there in this tournament and just play really well for my teammates, for my coaches, and to win the championship. So I think that’s what I did.
Q. What does this mean for you ladies’ legacy? And what is it like playing for the GOAT?
RAVEN JOHNSON: The GOAT, you mean the Dawn Staley? It means a lot just to play — just to learn from her. She’s like a mom. I mean, I don’t know, I go to her about everything. I could joke around with her. I could do anything, just anything. She’s like a mom, like a home away from home. It’s a home-away-from-home feeling.
There’s no better way to have a coach like her and be so comfortable around her. And I take pride in what she do for us, on and off the court, not just basketball.
KAMILLA CARDOSO: I agree with Raven. I feel like, especially me, I’m international, and I don’t have my family here. She’s just like a family for me, a family away from home. And I’m just so thankful to have her as a coach (crying).
TE-HINA PAOPAO: Man, she’s so important to have in people’s lives. She’s amazing. God has put her in my life, and she’s impacted it so much, not only me, but my family.
She changes lives for the better. I wish you guys could experience that and just how much she’s helped me as a player and as a woman.
And she’s just amazing, man. It’s a blessing. Just playing for her is so much fun. People just love playing for her. People would run through brick walls for her.
To be able to have a coach like that, it’s unimagined. We’re all just really blessed to have someone like her in our corner. She just impacted our lives for the better.
Q. This is for either of you. You look at the stat sheet there, we have three starters up on the stage, but it’s 37-0 advantage in bench points in a national championship game. Can you just kind of break down that kind of impact, what your teammates were able to do in that department?
TE-HINA PAOPAO: Man, they’re our difference maker. This whole season, we’ve depended on them so much, they’re our depth. They’ve done so much for this team. A lot of people sleep on them.
But they could start on any team in this country, but they decided to sacrifice that and play for this team and win a national championship, which we did today.
Big shout out to them. They did their big thing today on such a big stage. And I’m really proud of them. Their confidence has grown so much throughout this season. I’m just really proud of them for performing how they did today and helping us get this dub.
RAVEN JOHNSON: Going off what Te-Hina said, I’m going to give Tessa Johnson her flowers. When you talk about a freshman, it’s just the stuff that she does. She’s always ready for the moments. When her number is called, she’s always ready. Every shot she puts up, it goes in. Just what Tessa does.
And on the defensive end, she takes pride in defense. If you talk to her, she’s like a sponge. She’s gets in the gym, she works on her shot every day. She wants to learn. She wants to grow.
When you’re talking about freshmen, Tessa Johnson’s name should definitely be in the conversation.
Q. Tessa Johnson scored a career high in the national championship game. She’s a freshman. I don’t know how old she is, I assume 18 or 19 years old. Raven, you just talked about it. Te-Hina, Kamilla, if you could talk about Tessa’s performance.
TE-HINA PAOPAO: Tessa was due for a breakout game. What to do better than on a national stage? She’s trusted her process here. She’s trusted her journey. And for her to do that on such a big stage, I’m so proud of her. Her confidence has grown so much.
I’m just really excited for her future. She’s going to be a great Gamecock. She’s got a bright future ahead of her. But she’s just got to keep trusting the process and being who she is. She’s just an amazing little girl.
KAMILLA CARDOSO: Yeah, I agree with that. I’m just so proud of Tessa. She’s been working so hard since the beginning of this season. I’m so happy for her because she went out there and she did a big one. And I know this is going to boost her confidence a lot.
She’s just doing a great job. She always works so hard for moments like this, and I’m so proud of her.
