Dawn Staley gives Bree Hall flowers for play on defense: 'She's on my all-time defensive team'

Bree Hall‘s biographical page on Gamecock Athletics’ website lists accolades she has garnered during her South Carolina career.

In that time, Hall has cemented herself as one of the winningest players in program history. She has won two national championships, three SEC Tournament titles, and 142 of the 148 games (and counting) the Gamecocks have played in both the regular season and postseason.

Despite this, all of Hall’s major collegiate recognitions have come off the court:

• CSC Academic All-District (2023)
• SEC Academic Honor Roll (2022, 2023, 2024)
• SEC Basketball Leadership Council Vice Chair (2023-24)
• SEC Community Service Team (2024)

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Dawn Staley, meanwhile, remains steadfast in her praise for the contributions Hall has made to the team, especially on the defensive side of the basketball.

Throughout her coaching career, Staley has coached many players who have won major defensive awards. Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso, who both now ply their trade in the WNBA, won national defensive recognitions from the Naismith Awards and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, respectively. Program legends like A’ja Wilson and Tiffany Mitchell also appeared on SEC All-Defensive Teams during their time in college – as have recent stars like Brea Beal, Raven Johnson, and Sania Feagin.

Staley still considers Hall to be among the best of that bunch and more, even with all the defensive greatness that she has witnessed in the collegiate ranks.

“Bree’s an elite defender. It’s elite – the things that she does, the people that she has to guard,” Staley said. “In my 25 years of coaching, she’s on my all-time defensive team – all the players that I’ve coached – because she’s very consistent with it, and she relishes the challenge.”

The area where Hall has shined the most on defense is in her discipline. She has committed just 41 personal fouls across 35 games this season, all of which she has started. This amounts to just under 1.2 fouls per game – all while she has been defending her opponent’s best players.

Hall’s defensive strengths have led to her being a member of South Carolina’s ‘Seat Belt Gang,’ which also includes Johnson.

“Before we start a game, we got the biggest defense assignment. So, let’s lock the other best players up,” Johnson said after the Gamecocks’ 66-56 win over LSU on Jan. 24. “We the co-hosts of seatbelt gang. Let’s do this.”

Those strengths were on full display against Indiana, where Hall marked Yarden Garzon – a player with a three-inch height advantage. Hall put clamps down on Garzon early, limiting her to just two points on 1-5 shooting in the first half. Garzon finished the game having made just four of her 13 field goal attempts. She scored five points in the second half, four of which came in the third quarter.

Staley said Hall’s performance against Garzon demonstrated how she can succeed even after making in-game tactical switches.

“Breezy had to make an adjustment today because she was guarding Garzon like (Madison) Booker. There’s a little bit of a difference in what both of them can do. We probably needed Breezy to loosen up a little bit,” Staley said. “She told me. She actually finished my sentence. And then, in the second half, she really adjusted.”

Hall will not be in the running for any national defensive awards this year, which would have been the first such accolade she received in her college career. But Staley believes there are many figures in women’s college basketball who admire what Hall has done on defense this season.

“People are watching. It’s just not the people who will give credit like other people,” Staley said. “Fans and people who really understand what’s happening out there on the floor give her her flowers, and I’m happy that they do.”

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