South Carolina women's basketball: How Tessa Johnson has become the Gamecocks' secret weapon

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It was an eventful weekend for Tessa Johnson, to say the least. She started her first tournament game, she became a social media star, she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, she sparked a decisive run with her shooting, and she got ripped and then raved by Dawn Staley. All that in three days.

On Friday against Presbyterian Johnson was a surprise starter after Bree Hall was a late scratch. It was just the second start of her career and on the big stage of the NCAA Tournament. It was a dream come true.

“Growing up I was like, wow, I want to play in the NCAA Tournament and now I’m playing in the NCAA Tournament,” Johnson said. “So it’s really cool.”

Except that Johnson missed all seven of her shots and was the only Gamecock who didn’t score.

“I mean, that ball will not go in,” she said as she cut the tape from her ankles. Johnson was clearly frustrated, and I wondered for a moment if she was going to take out her frustrations on innocent athletic tape, but she put her poor shooting into perspective.

“We won,” she said. “I feel good.”

She might not have felt as good if she heard what Staley said about Johnson’s game.

“So it’s cool to do it, it’s cool to be that starting five,” Staley said. “She’s got a glimpse of what it feels like to do it in the postseason play, and she got her work cut out for her.”

Staley also told Johnson to keep shooting. Johnson’s teammates told her the same thing. They also reminded her there is more to basketball than scoring, and Johnson was doing the other things well.

“She was a plus-49 on Friday,” Staley said. “Although she didn’t make a shot, she led our team in plus-minus.”

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Not bad considering the start of the season Staley said Johnson’s best defense was her offense. She meant that Johnson would have to outscore opponents because she wasn’t getting stops.

I reminded Johnson what Staley said and she laughed. Almost everything makes Johnson laugh. Sometimes it’s a giggle, sometimes it’s a loud laugh that echoes around the locker room, like when she learned about the term “goose-egg” to describe her poor shooting.

That effervescent personality is why South Carolina’s social media team tabbed Johnson to host a locker room interview video. It was so popular she did a second video, now titled “Tea Time with Tessa.”

On Sunday, Johnson was all smiles again. She hit back-to-back threes to launch South Carolina’s decisive 30-2 run and finished with 11 points and three rebounds.

When the first three went down, you could see a weight being lifted off Johnson’s shoulders. Although she insisted that on the second three was “I was open, it was an expected shot,” it sure looked like a heat check to me.

“I’m pretty confident in my in my three,” Johnson said. “I just had to forget about last game and then shoot it.”

Johnson had the defense, the points, ran a little point guard, and did all the little things she is becoming known for. That had her feeling different when the media crowded around her locker after the game.

“A lot better, a lot better,” Johnson said. “Especially with the defensive end because they give me a job and my goal is to just work for it.”

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That mentality has helped Johnson become one of the Gamecocks’ most important players. She isn’t the flashiest player and she doesn’t put up the biggest stats, but somebody has to do all the little things to help her teammates excel.

That’s why the analytics love Johnson. During conference play (throwing out the early season when Johnson was still figuring things out) Johnson’s net rating is plus-41 points per 100 possessions and South Carolina is plus-7.4 points per 100 with her on the court. She leads South Carolina in both categories, as well as plus-minus.

Johnson told me it’s all because she embraced defense, the opposite of how she played in high school.
“Defense wins games,” Johnson said. “That’s the part you can control. And you will be on the court if you can play defense.”

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