Albany Region Elite 8 Game Breakdown
#1 Connecticut vs. #2 South Carolina
Connecticut passed their first real test of the NCAA Tournament by knocking off Duke by a score of 72-59. The Huskies did not dominate Duke, but they were up 40-20 at the break and basically cruised from there. Naphessa Collier had another big game, tallying 16 points and 11 rebounds. Gabby Williams and Azura Stevens helped Connecticut dominate in the paint.
Domination in the paint will not come as easily against South Carolina. The Gamecocks pulled away from Buffalo in the fourth quarter and beat the Bulls 79-63. Coach Dawn Staley’s team kept feeding Alexis Jennings and A’ja Wilson in the paint and in the long run it worked. Both Jennings and Wilson scored 20 points each and they were a big reason why South Carolina beat Buffalo 48-21 in the rebounding department.
Both of these teams have gotten here with the play of their frontcourts. If South Carolina is able to neutralize Connecticut’s frontcourt, it will come down to the play on the perimeter. The Gamecocks are not a three-point shooting team and only went 1-of-5 from beyond the arc against Buffalo, but they will have to knock down a few more outside shots if they want to upset the Huskies. Tyasha Harris can drive and dish and some of those will need to end up with an open look for one of shooters on the team. Connecticut has more prolific backcourt scorers like Katie Lou Samuelson, Crystal Dangerfield and Kia Nurse. Even if South Carolina can win the battle in the paint, Connecticut should be able to do enough on the perimeter to reach the Final Four.
