Ahead of their Elite Eight matchup against Duke, South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao emphasizes the importance of starting the game with toughness. Citing struggles in the first half of their recent tournament games, she believes the team has not been able to assert dominance early. Paopao acknowledges the physical nature of the upcoming game and stresses the need for her team to be mentally locked in from the start to avoid elimination. She balances the challenge of maintaining physicality while avoiding fouls during the intense matchup ahead.
"I feel like we've had some problems with that this season -- playing with toughness," Paopao said Saturday. "We've got to start the game with toughness. I feel like when the (other) team punches first and plays with toughness first, we tend to not be able to play with toughness until later in the second half or when it's too late."
"Sometimes we can be a little loose and not locked in from the beginning. I feel like as a leader, I've got to let my team know that I feel like the aura right now is not feeling like we're locked, and we're just too loose."
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