Te-Hina Paopao credits Dawn Staley's halftime speech for 2nd half effort over Texas A&M

South Carolina was sloppy altogether to start out in the SEC Tournament with a 15-turnover first half and 24-turnover game overall in their victory over Texas A&M. They improved in that aspect in the second half, though, because of the message that Dawn Staley got across.

Te-Hina Paopao spoke about the fewer turnovers in the second half during her postgame interview with Brooke Weisbrod on the SEC Network. She said it was because of Staley’s emphasis on the errors that forced them to settle in after the break.

“Halftime speech. Just getting in there,” said Paopao. “We just got to take care of the ball and be who we are. It’s self-inflicted. We just got to come back to who we are. That’s what happened and we blew the game wide open.”

Staley described her halftime speech as well at the broadcast desk following the 79-68 win over the Aggies in Greenville. She had to harp on and get on her team about it because of just how careless they were early on. They pulled it together, though, and did what was necessary to secure their 30th win.

“Self-inflicted wounds. I mean part of it was Texas A&M was doing to us. We didn’t meet the moment. I mean, luckily, we found a way to win the game,” said Staley. “I think it was Oprah passing out turnovers on our team – you get a turnover, you get a turnover, you get a turnover!”

“They’re a team that they play free. I’m probably the one that’s blowing my top. They’re looking at me like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’. And I’m looking at them like, ‘What’s wrong with y’all out there on the court?’” Staley said. “It’s a little bit where you got to meet the moment. We didn’t meet the moment. Settled in at halftime, that’s how it was. Just settle. Do what needs to get done to win a basketball game.”

Now, at 30-0 overall heading into Saturday’s semifinals, the next memo is just as clear. South Carolina wants to be better than they were today versus the Aggies. They eventually will be ready to go too come tipoff tomorrow.

“One game down. We got another one tomorrow,” said Paopao. “We gotta rest up, take care of the body. Come back locked in, be who we are, and get the dub.”

“It’s buckle-down time. It’s semifinals times,” Staley said. “We’re going to watch this game, see what team we’re going to play in the semifinals, go back and prep. Get off our feet and prep. We came here to win an SEC Tournament Championship. That is what we’re singularly focused on.”