Everything Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico said after South Carolina's 68-62 win

Michigan head women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico spoke to the media following the team’s 68-62 loss to South Carolina on Monday. Here’s what she had to say.

[GamecockCentral FLASH SALE: $1 for the first week, then half-price for a year]

Opening statement

“I thought the environment was outstanding. We actually felt like we were playing in South Carolina. They had a great crowd, but we were happy that we had a lot of people show up as well.

“The Hall of Fame Classic is a great tournament We were super excited to be invited and challenge ourselves against the national champs and the number one team in the country. So I thought our kids really competed. I was really proud of our effort. I thought we hung around there from a rebounding perspective, and we battled through the entire game. So, it was a great contest for us, and we’re excited for the rest of the season.”

On Syla Swords’ collegiate debut

“Golly, I’m happy that she’s in our program. She’s just a competitor. I’ve never seen anything like it. She’s relentless, she has a motor, she just made things happen. She never stopped working, she had a nose for the basketball. That’s a heck of a freshman debut, for sure. And she’s wonderful. I think the greatest thing about her is she’s so humble. She’s a wonderful teammate. It wasn’t like every single thing was run for her. She made a lot of those plays happen by her effort and her hustle. She’s just awesome.”

On how Michigan disrupted South Carolina’s offensive flow

“I think, from an offensive perspective, we also tried to take advantage of our matchups early, so we knew they were going have an advantage with their size on the rebounding end. But we wanted to put Jordan (Hobbs) because we knew that she would have a post offender on her in as much action as possible early. And I thought we were really effective trying to do that. They made an adjustment late and switched some guards on her late because of how effective she was with the post defender on her.”

[See the Gamecock discussion on The Insiders Forum!]

On Swords’ poise against South Carolina

“I feel like I had an opportunity to watch Syla (Swords) for the last few years. She was on the number one team, number one high school team in the country, loaded with five-star kids that are all playing at a major level right now. And she always found a way to stand out. She always found a way to separate herself. And it wasn’t necessarily by scoring points – she just was such a great decision maker. She was a great rebounder. She was a great leader; she was a great teammate.

“I had an opportunity to watch her in Spain when she played with the U-18s or U-19s – and then also in Mexico, and then also in the Olympics. For an 18-year-old to play in the Olympics against grown women with grown women to compete at that level, I think she was prepared for this moment. And I think the rest of the country got an opportunity to see that tonight.”

On what going toe-to-toe South Carolina means for the program

“I would probably say, I haven’t measured it yet – a lot of teams played today. But I would say we arguably got to be the youngest team in the country right now by far, I think. We started three freshmen, we have one returner on our team that played more than 10 minutes a game last year – and that’s Jordan.

“So we’re new, we’re young. But we’re fine, and we’re talented, and we’re coachable and, we’re bought in, and they’re just an amazing group. I think there’s going to be a lot of highs and a lows sometimes with inexperience, but their commitment to being great and their commitment to putting in time and putting in the work is there. So I think this was a good test for us early. We’re never satisfied with getting a loss. But I think this gave our team an opportunity to see that we can compete at the highest level.”

On how Michigan’s grit will help it during Big Ten play

“I’m pretty excited about that backcourt. I thought the third quarter – and I haven’t really looked at things – we made maybe a little bit of a run towards the end of the third quarter. But they sped us up early in the third quarter and they won some 50-50 balls. They got the toughness plays.”

[Newsletters: Get breaking news and analysis from GamecockCentral]

“I thought, going into the fourth quarter, we couldn’t rely on the crowd. We couldn’t rely on the referees. We couldn’t rely on South Carolina – we had to make things happen for us. So we just needed to dial it up, and we did. We fought, we came back, we got it to two (points), I think, and put ourselves in a position to really have an opportunity to win it down the stretch. So I was really happy with the way that we responded.”

On Michigan’s trio of star freshmen

“I think the trio of freshmen that are starting are really, really special. Really, really, really special. Both (Olivia Olson) and Mila (Holloway) are probably in the locker room with their head down a little bit because they didn’t feel like they had their best night. But to be on that stage competing the way that all three of them did, I’m really, really, really proud of them. I think they’re just gonna continue to get better.”

On shutting down Raven Johnson

“We talked about Raven (Johnson). I mean, we talked about their whole roster all week, but Raven’s experience – she’s an experienced player for them. She kind of runs their team. She’s coming back, she plays a ton of minutes for them. So we knew that she was gonna be critical in their success. We tried to throw different defenses at her. We tried to throw different matchups at her. I think it was effective early, and that definitely helped us.”

On Michigan’s transition game

“I was a little concerned about it going in because I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to keep pace with South Carolina. That’s why we worked so hard this week on our transition defense. But I like that we could do that. I know I’m going to go back and watch the film. I think there were like three or four more opportunities where we got tangled up in the backcourt where we probably could have advanced and got some easy ones too. But that’s our mentality. It’s way different than we’ve been in the past.

“I think Mila is exceptional at what she does, and I think she’s gonna get better, the more opportunities she has. And we have some people on the wings, Liv and Syla, that can really fly. So you put another score like Jordan in that mix, and it’s really hard to defend. So, we’re definitely going to be more of an up-tempo team.”

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!