Rock Hill, S.C. -  On this installment of Ever Stand at Home, Alyssa Sconzo caught up with twin sisters, Sydney and Sierra Hunter, rising sophomores on the women's basketball team. The three talk about the upcoming season, playing close to home, plans for post-COVID 19 life and so much more!

AS: "How have you been spending your time over the last few months since we've been away from the Coliseum?
Sydney: "We've been doing as little as we can because our dad is high risk so it's really important that Sierra and I try to stay in as much as we can. We built a small group with me, her and one of our closest friends to work out every day at the park. We run miles, do drills in the grass and then we go home, eat, watch Netflix or Hulu, maybe read a book or something but we've been trying to keep it limited."

AS: "So looking ahead a little bit, what is the first thing you guys plan on doing when things really get back to normal?"
Sierra: "I want to play basketball. I can't remember the last time I was able to go play pick-up. It's so bad at home – the hoops are down and I haven't seen my teammates in forever, so that's the first thing I want to get back to."
Sydney: "I would say the same thing. I got to spend time with family and you can FaceTime your friends but we haven't been able to scrimmage basketball for a long time. You can do all the drills you want but real-time basketball is the best practice."

AS: "Growing up in Charlotte, how important was it for you to play close to home when making your college decision?"
Sierra: "I didn't really care where I went, far or close, but we've always been around the Rock Hill area. We would always stop here for gas on the way to my grandma's house. It was kind of like "Winthrop is cool. This is nice." But when I really came here on a visit I was like "how long has this been back here?!" because I had never seen this beautiful campus before. It made it so much easier knowing that if I got tired of school or I was upset I could always go home for a night, get a home cooked meal and talk to my parents. So, when I committed to Winthrop, location was a huge factor."
Sydney: "For me, location wasn't as important unless we both got a scholarship to the same school. I've never been apart from Sierra so I don't really know how to do that – to just go ahead and move somewhere and be expected to do it on my own. I'm sure I could figure it out but I think college is the best place for us to start learning how to separate ourselves. Winthrop was one of the few schools that offered us together so that was a really important thing and it was a bonus that it was within driving distance of my parents. My parents have never missed any of my games so that's always been really important to me. I'm not sure distance would have mattered if I would have gotten a scholarship somewhere else with her but with Winthrop being willing to have both of us that was the selling point for me."

AS: "There's going to be a lot of new faces on the floor for Winthrop women's basketball this season, what are your expectations for the upcoming season?"
Sierra: "Honestly, I just want to win. I want to build on all of the new freshman, the transfers, our new coach. I just want to take advantage of the opportunity and really turn it around. They're improving every year and I want to jump out there and have everyone be like "Winthrop? Where did that come from?" I'm just excited to mesh together. I feel like team chemistry is really important off the floor. When this Corona thing passes, I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone personally and I feel like it'll be perfect on the floor. It will be just fine."
Sydney: "I'm not as worried about wins because I know that will come eventually and if you're worried about winning so much, it adds so much stress to the team. I'm trying to build a culture. It's so important and I come from a high school program that had a culture. They knew what needed to be done in order to get wins but it was also fun in the process because everyone knew their part, everyone was contributing and you could actually see progress in what you were doing. I feel like it's so important that we come in, welcome the new girls and learn how to build a sturdy program together and keep it going for years to come. I want to reference the men's basketball team. They're so successful because Coach Kelsey has built a culture within that program and the boys know what is expected of them and that's exactly what I know we can do and I'm looking forward to us getting that done."
Sierra: "And holding each other accountable this year."

AS: "This offseason probably looks a little different than it typically would. How are you staying active and preparing for the season?
Sierra: "We're running in the blazing heat at least once a day – we try to get a mile in. We try to get some outside time and try to stay active for at least 30 minutes to an hour, at least. It's easy to sit around and eat and watch TV all day but I know it's important that when we are able to go back, that we're ready."
Sydney: "Even if we can't get to a hoop yet there's so many things that you can do to get your body ready – agility drills, making sure your balance is good, jumping, working on those muscles that you forget about – those types of things we can occupy our time with. Yesterday, was the first time that the returners went to weightlifting. We did lifting and conditioning. Our coach bought us these exercise masks with filters in them. It was a little bit harder to breathe than usual but it's just going to take some adjusting. I didn't know how it was going to look exercising with a bunch of people in the Coliseum because it's indoors but it worked! Everyone was socially distanced and we focused on what we were doing. I didn't have to take off my mask or anything but Coach Nat is slowly walking us through it so I feel like we're going to be okay."

AS: "I have a twin sister too so I understand the bond and competitiveness you guys share. I'm going to ask a few questions and you can just let me know which twin the question best applies to. Who is the better dancer?"
Answer: Sierra
AS: "Who is most likely to sleep through the alarm clock?"
Answer: Sierra
Sierra: "Definitely me."
Sydney: "Yeah, she did that today."
AS: "Who takes longer to get ready?"
Answer: Sydney
AS: "Who has the messier room?"
Answer: Sierra
Sierra: "It's not messy, it's just – Sydney is a little OCD. That's what that is."
AS: "Who gets better grades?"
Sydney: "I do, I get better grades."
Sierra: "Uh, I don't think so. I think it's 50/50."
AS: "Who is funnier?"
Answer: Sierra
AS: "Who is most likely to sleep through practice?"
Sydney: "If anybody showed up late it would be you."
Sierra: "It would probably be me but I would never do that."
AS: "Who has better taste in music?"
Answer: Sydney
AS: "Who is the better cook?"
Answer: Sierra
AS: "And who wins in a game of one-on-one?"
Sierra: "No, it's me. Every time I beat her she gets mad and goes in the house and tells my dad."
Sydney: "No, no, no. I disagree."

AS: "We might just have to agree to disagree on that one. Thank you guys so much for your time today. It was great chatting with you!"
Sierra: "Thanks! I can't wait to see you guys at the Coliseum soon."
AS: "We can't wait either!"
Sydney: "Thank you guys for having us on here today!"