Everything Tennessee Tech head WBB coach Kim Rosamond said after NCAA Tournament loss to South Carolina

Tennessee Tech head women’s basketball coach Kim Rosamond spoke to the media following the team’s 108-48 loss to South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Here’s everything she had to say.

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Opening statement

“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 (Staley) coaches. They do it the right way, and they do it with honor. 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 been focused on the outcome all year – 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.”

On watching South Carolina play in person-rather than watching them on film

“It’s hard to put into words because they can just hit you in so many different areas. I mean, you look – they shot 12 of 19 from the three today. 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 went 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, it’s big. They’re just so big and strong and long. 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, 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 disciplined; they are so tough.

“What I am so impressed with – and I had seen it when I was looking at their stats, 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 finally 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 heyday. We talked about going to UConn when Breanna Stewart was a freshman, but this team is right up there with them. 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.

On Rosamond’s first impression of Joyce Edwards

“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 – (she’s) one of the best freshmen in the country, if not one of the top three in the country. She was obviously a handful, but you can go down the list of players on that team, and they all play so well together.”

On Rosamond’s takeaways from a historic 2024-25 season

“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. 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 not only the players that they are and the milestones they achieve – 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.

“I want to thank our community in Cookeville for what they have done over the 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, 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.”

On where Tennessee Tech is heading after two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances

“Well, we’re back at championship expectations. You heard Peyton (Carter) talk about that – 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.

“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. Obviously, (we) had the most, or tied the most, wins in a single season in OVC history.”

“So, 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.”

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