South Carolina women's basketball: The duo of Bree Hall and Tessa Johnson make the Gamecocks' defense elite

Everyone knows the adage “defense wins championships” – heck, it may as well have been created for the 2022 Gamecocks – and South Carolina’s SEC Tournament run was spurred by championship-level defense.

In the past, South Carolina’s defense has always been anchored by a dominant big or two who could swat away anything that got near the basket. South Carolina holds the top three shot-blocking seasons in NCAA history, all in the past six seasons. 

This season is different. Without last season’s top two shot-blockers, Kamilla Cardoso (WNBA) and Ashlyn Watkins (torn ACL), the Gamecocks don’t have the same safety net at the rim. It hasn’t mattered. 

In three SEC tournament games, South Carolina played teams averaging 85.5 (Oklahoma), 83.6 (Vanderbilt), and 80.0 (Texas) points. Those teams were ranked fourth, seventh, and 12th in the country in scoring offense. 

The Gamecocks only allowed an average of 61 points on 35.8% shooting. They also set a championship game record for the fewest points allowed (45), fewest points in a half (16), the second fewest field goals made (16), and the fourth lowest field goal percentage (29.6%).

It’s a team effort, but without an elite shot-blocker, the defensive focus now begins with the tag team of Bree Hall and Tessa Johnson.

Last season, Hall took over for Brea Beal as South Carolina’s top perimeter defender, and Johnson is the heir-apparent for next season.

In Greenville, they were matched up with three of the best scorers in the country, and they won their assignment every time. They did it by focusing on efficiency and making it hard to get the ball in scoring position, not point totals.

They held Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, who scored 50 or more points this season, to 20 points on 5-15 shooting. There were countless Vanderbilt possessions where Blakes never got the ball back after giving it up. 

“She’s going to score. It’s our job to make it harder for her to score and try as best as we can to limit her production out there,” Johnson told me. She asked what Blakes’ shooting percentage was. I told her, and Johnson said, “We did our job.”

Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst has the most success of any opponent during the tournament, scoring 15 points on 6-10 shooting.

They saved the biggest statement for last, making SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker an offensive non-factor in the championship game.  Booker finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but seven of her points came in the fourth quarter after the outcome was already decided. She was 1-7 with two turnovers in the first three quarters and finished just 4-13. Booker also did not register an assist.

South Carolina tormented Booker in all three games. Booker had seven points on 3-19 shooting in the first game. She got 20 points in the win in Austin but still shot just 7-22. She finished the season averaging 12.3 points on 14-54  shooting (25.9%).

“Love that,” Hall said when I told her the stats. “25% is crazy.”

Booker missed open shots in the first game, and the Gamecocks freely acknowledged there was some luck involved. After the second game, Booker allegedly said that Hall couldn’t guard her (although scoring less than a point per shot sure sounds like a defensive win).

“It was a lot of extra motivation,” Hall said. “A lot of people had a lot of things to say after we lost to Texas the last time.”

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As if Hall and the Gamecocks needed any extra motivation. Johnson credited Hall for setting the tone on Sunday. Dawn Staley knew in the morning shootaround that Hall was chomping at the bit. 

“You have someone like a Breezy Hall, we were going over some of their high-frequency sets at shootaround,” Staley said. “It was a set that most teams run. I asked them if they wanted to go through it. They were like, No, give us the hard stuff, give us the hard sets. She was locked into the game plan and wanted to know what she needed to do in order for her to help us win another championship.”

It wasn’t just Hall, though. She and Johnson rotated frequently, keeping fresh legs on Booker, who played 36 minutes. It also gave them a chance to compare notes.

“She came out today and she was telling me about Booker because that was her matchup. I was watching it and she was helping me out, giving me advice. I’ll come out, and I’ll be like, okay Breezy, this, this, this.”

“I didn’t do it alone,” Hall said. “Tessa did a great job, taking some time on her and defending her.”

It’s a situation that could have turned volatile. Two players playing the same position, fighting for minutes, especially as the younger Johnson has emerged as the closer at the position while still coming off the bench.

South Carolina’s culture won’t let that happen, and it is a credit to the maturity of both players. I asked Hall how it feels to mentor “the new you.” It’s the sort of question some players would have bristled at answering. Not Hall.

“I definitely help her out,” Hall said. “She is always asking questions on the sidelines. What should she do with this certain screen or that certain screen. I feel like I am knowledgeable enough to know some of the things she is asking.”

Johnson has made significant strides on defense this season. She was a liability on that end of the court at the beginning of her freshman season. Last year in the SEC tournament, it was surprising that Johnson made defensive plays. This year it was expected, she said the difference is in her approach to the game.

“My defense has evolved more mentally than anything,” Johnson said. “I go into a game and I’m not like, oh this player might get by me, this player might score on me. I want to guard the best player or hot hand, whatever it is. I want that challenge. That changed my mindset and helped me become a better defender.”

South Carolina is a projected top seed in the NCAA tournament. The full brackets will be announced on Sunday, March 16, at 8:00 pm ET.

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