Gamecocks use Hoosiers' comments as 'extra motivation' in win - ESPN

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina may have trailed Indiana at halftime on Saturday, but that deficit was not the only motivation that fueled the Gamecocks in the second half.

Following a 64-53 win that advanced South Carolina to its 11th straight Sweet 16, the Gamecocks said they viewed comments Indiana players made the previous day as bulletin board material.

«That put the fire to us,» guard Raven Johnson said.

Indiana lost to South Carolina in the Sweet 16 last year, 79-74. The key difference, Hoosiers guard Sydney Parrish noted during a pregame news conference Saturday, was South Carolina not having Kamilla Cardoso (graduation) and Ashlyn Watkins (injury) this year.

Parrish said, in part: «Without a 6-7 kid in there with Kamilla and Ashlyn Watkins being injured at the beginning of this year, that definitely helps us.»

South Carolina guard Bree Hall said she went to sleep rereading the comments. On the defensive end, she held Indiana's leading scorer, Yarden Garzon, to 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Parrish, meanwhile, totaled six points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Hall came through on the offensive end, too, leading her team with 11 points and helping key the third-quarter surge. Her 3-pointer allowed South Carolina to turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 45-33 lead as the Gamecocks opened the quarter hitting nine of their first 10 shots.

South Carolina ended up scoring 26 third-quarter points and shooting 69% from the field, exceeding its 25 total first-half points in what amounted to a complete offensive turnaround.

«I went to bed and read that article again and was like, 'Oh, this is how you feel about us,'» Hall said of Parrish's comments. «For people like me and Raven, we need that extra motivation. We go into the