South Carolina 108, Tennessee Tech 48
THE MODERATOR: We have Tennessee Tech, the Golden Eagles represented by Coach Rosamond and student-athletes, Reghan Grimes and Peyton Carter. Coach, if you would please make an opening statement.
KIM ROSAMOND: We played a team on a mission today, on a mission to win a national championship. If they shoot the basketball like that the rest of the way, they're going to be almost impossible to beat. It's incredible.
We shoot every day, and it's hard to shoot the way they shot even with an empty gym, much less with defense on them. They shot 67% from the floor, 63% from the three, and obviously when they got to the free-throw line, did a great job of knocking them down. We just ran into a buzz saw today.
I also want to point this out. I don't think this gets talked enough about South Carolina. I just respect so much the way their kids handle themselves, the way they play the game, the way Dawn coaches. They do it the right way, and they do it with honor, and they respect the game, and they respect their opponent. Even when they're kicking their butt, they respect their opponent. We wish South Carolina and Coach Staley and her staff the best of luck.
I also want to talk about our crew. I'm so proud of our team and what they've accomplished, the historic season. One day they're going to be able to tell their children that it took the defending national champions to break their 17-game winning streak. So there's no shame in what these kids have accomplished today.
Obviously the outcome was not what we wanted, but we've not focused on the outcome all year. You know, it's been about the process, about our dash and about our journey, and this team has done it better than any team that I've ever coached.
It has been an honor to be their coach.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions to the student-athletes at this time.
Q. For both of you, what was it like in that first quarter when it looked like they just kind of took off and began? Were you able to kind of regroup yourselves and just try and stay in it as best you could?
REGHAN GRIMES: I think we did do a pretty good job of regrouping. I know it was tough at first, but we came into the huddle and kind of made sure our minds -- like, we got our minds back to where they needed to be and just talked about doing the things that we can control and making it tougher on them.
I think once we did that, it did get a little bit better there for a little bit.
PEYTON CARTER: I think, too, we talk about the pace of the game and the height, the size, the speed, everything. We were told that it was going to be a lot faster than we're used to. Obviously the first five minutes you see it, and you really get hit with it.
Yeah, after the first five minutes we got to kind of sit down and be, like, all right, we see how it's going to be, we see how the refs are going to call it. It's going to be a physical game. We just had to sit down and get used to that.
Q. I'm just kind of curious, how are you all going to remember your career at Tennessee Tech?
PEYTON CARTER: I don't know where to start. I believe I'm going to get emotional because I'm a fifth-year senior, and I'm done.
It's been awesome. Coach Rose has been a mentor to me and a great coach to me. I've had great teammates throughout the years. I've been at Tennessee Tech, gosh, since COVID. To be where I am now, if you look at my stats or whatever freshman year, you would never believe that I'm one of the leaders on this team and scoring whatever, 12 against South Carolina.
But it's just been awesome. Especially when you have a group of girls and coaches who love you so much. It's been an amazing ride. To finish here at South Carolina against -- I hope they go and win it all. How cool would it be to have the team that knocks out your 17-game winning streak to go and win it all? Good luck to South Carolina. I wish them well. It's been awesome, an awesome run.
REGHAN GRIMES: I mean, I'm not done yet, so I hope I'm still making a lot more memories. I think on these past three years there's been so much to reflect on and so many historic things that have happened that it's definitely going to be something I can tell my kids and that I can be proud of going forward.
Q. We talk about a lot about the history of Tennessee Tech basketball. There's so many banners hanging up in Hooper Eblen Center. What does it mean to you guys that you now have two?
REGHAN GRIMES: I think for me that was my goal in coming here was to win championships. So to still have another year and already have two banners up is huge, and I know that I'm ready to, like, go win another one and have three for my career here.
I think it wouldn't be possible without the season that we had last year for us to hang this one this year. Then coming in and some of the adversity we hit this year, I think a lot of it helped us get to where we were. So it's been really huge to just go through what we've gone through, but then still push through and be able to win like we won this year.
PEYTON CARTER: It's so cool. There's a lot of banners hanging up in the Hooper Eblen Center, and it's just awesome to be accompanied by that group. To have two, it's amazing. It's hard to get one. Like Reghan said, we don't get this one if we didn't have the season last year.
You know, it sucks for the girls that couldn't come back this year and experience it, but you know, for the ones who did come back, we came together, and we knew what it took to win a championship. To come in there and not be satisfied and not be finished, we got a group of girls who were just completely bought in, a bunch of ball players who love each other and love playing with each other, and we came together and got it done. It's been awesome.
Q. This is for Peyton again. I'm emotional too, so I'm sorry. As the clock is ticking down, you kind of realize your career is coming to an end. Your last shot ever was a successful three-point shot. That's pretty cool. I was just wondering if you had any memories on that.
PEYTON CARTER: That's funny. That's cool. Yeah, we've run that play all year. A lot of times Chloe, our point guard, runs it because it's kind of for the point guard. I've ran it a couple of times. I really don't know if -- that might be the first one that I've made on that one, so how cool was it?
No, being out there and just looking around seeing how many people out there, it's just such a surreal moment. Yeah, the last three was pretty cool to end up on.
The couple of championship games ended on getting the last rebound. It's a signature thing for me. I should have gone to try to fine the ball this time. I don't know. It was cool.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.
Q. Kim, obviously you might have seen this team on TV once or twice during the season. You watched a lot of film on them. What's it like when you see them in person?
KIM ROSAMOND: It's hard to put into words, you know, because they can just hit you in so many different areas. I mean, you look. They shot 12 of 19 from the three today, you know. We knew they were capable of shooting. I don't know that we expected that. It seemed like every time we got hit by an on-ball screen or we want under an on-ball screen, they drilled it.
Some of them were uncontested, but some of them we were there, and they just knocked it down. Then you try to take the three away. Then they go inside and they go in the paint. They had scored 58 points in the paint. Obviously the height difference, you know, it's big, but still you can -- they're just so big and strong and long.
Rebounding, they overwhelm you on the rebounding, and we've been a great rebounding basketball team. In fact, this is the best rebounding basketball team that we've had at Tennessee tech during my nine seasons. They out- rebounded us 47-15.
When we did crash, we were sending two back because of their transition. When we did crash, I mean, there's just -- it's just hard to go in there and even grab a board on them. There's just not a lot of areas that they have a lot of weaknesses, and they are so well-coached. They are so well-coached. They are so disciplined. They are so tough.
What I am so impressed with and I had seen it when I was looking at their stats, you know, how we score, it's layups. You weren't going to get a whole lot of layups today. When you go in the paint, the length and the size. We knew we were going to have to kick out.
They take the three away so well. I think it was 2:17 left in the second quarter that we final hit a three. We don't live and die by the three, but that's a big part of how we score.
But this is what impresses me the most. This is when you know a team is so disciplined. They defend so well without fouling. Obviously we didn't get to the free-throw line very much, but teams in the SEC don't get to the free-throw line very much.
They've got so many weapons. I've played against the best of the best. I've played against Tennessee in their hay day. We talked about going to UConn when Breanna Stewart was a freshman, but this team is right up there with them.
That's they're a team. They're a team. They're not a group of individuals. The way that dawn gets them to play together as a team, it's masterful.
Q. This was your first look at Joyce Edwards. What was your first impression of her in her first tournament game?
KIM ROSAMOND: Wow. You look at her line. She had 22 points today. She plays so hard, and she's a baller. I mean, there's no question. One of the best freshmen in the country, if not one of the top three in the country. There's no question about it.
She was obviously a handful, but just you can go down the list of players on that team, and they all play so well together.
Q. You had an historic season, saw 17 straight consecutive wins. What's going to be the biggest take-away for you whether it be from the senior class or just from this team as a whole? What are you going to remember from this year?
KIM ROSAMOND: I don't want to make it about me when I answer this question because it is all about them, but you talk a lot in athletics about players needing coaches to believe in them. Well, coaches need players to believe in them as well.
The way this group believed in our staff, the way this group believed in our culture, the way this group represented Tennessee Tech, I will never ever forget it, and they will always have a special place in my heart. I talked about the class that South Carolina plays with. I would guess that those 18,000 fans, regardless of the score, felt the same way about our players today.
I am so proud of just not only the players that they are and the milestone that is they achieve, but the person is greater than the player in our program. We talk about that all the time. That's the most important thing. I got to coach some incredible human beings this season. Look, our community, I want to thank our community in Cookeville for what they have done over the last, you know -- this last season, but especially this last month the way they have showed up for these kids, the way they've supported them. When we came down today for the send-off, all the people that drove here, I mean, you saw the love they were giving our kids.
It's because of who they are, and Cookeville has embraced them, and our players have embraced Cookeville and the Upper Cumberland. That's what sports are all about.
Q. Two years ago when Tech made the NCAA Tournament it was the first time since 2000. Now two NCAA appearances in three years. Just talk about where the program is going.
KIM ROSAMOND: Yeah. Well, we're back at championship expectations. You heard Peyton talk about that. You know, it's no longer just the standard to have a winning season. When we first got here, that was where we were trying to get it back to. Just to have a winning season.
Now, we expect to win championships, and we expect to win in every area of our life. You know, I was thinking about this today. What South Carolina has done, we want to get to that point in the OVC. We want to become the dominant team in the OVC, and I think we're starting to take a step forward in doing that.
We've played in three out of the last four championship games. We've won two out of the last three, and so obviously had the most or tied the most wins in a single season in OVC history, OVC wins this year.
So, you know, now we're going to take some time to reflect on this, enjoy it, take a break. My staff needs one, and what an incredible staff that I have, but we're also going to get back to work to keep taking steps forward and continue to take it to the next level.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports