COLOMBIA – The Arkansas women’s basketball team is fast. No. 17 Razorbacks have an offensive system designed to punish an opponent, passing through them in search of easy buckets, or throwing 3 points at a shuffled defense.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley frowned when discussing this.
“Arkansas likes to go up and down, likes to score probably with the least amount of dribbling, makes the first shot available. Defensively, we have to match them and try to limit the amount of 3-point attempts they fire, because the more they take, the more they do, and that can condemn us, ”she said. “Because we don’t score much on the 3-point line.”
She paused, her expression relaxing.
“But we got Henny.”
Shipowner Destanni Henderson would never have an easy life replacing the ultra-smooth and extremely popular Ty Harris. South Carolina won for four years with the heady Harris leading the show, starting his career with a national championship and ending with another team that certainly looked like he would have played for him.
Henderson has been a dynamic player since she signed up, but relegated to flashes of brightness as a backup. She scored 19 points, her career record, in a crucial victory two years ago (no less than in Arkansas) and was a member of the SEC’s five-woman team in Greenville in March.
This year, it has been his show, and despite the relentless comparisons of “Ty would have done it”, Henderson shone and put his own brand on the show. She set a career record 22 in last week’s return win in Kentucky, leading the rally, and scored a career record with nine assists in an unfortunate Vanderbilt explosion on Thursday.
“My role for the team is to keep everyone organized in the transition, just to push the ball. Use my strength, which is my speed, and that opens up a lot of things for our team, ”said Henderson. “I feel that if I am going strong and fast, it gets on with the other team members, they will follow suit.”
Henderson scored double digits in seven games this season, with 20 or more points in three and 19 in another. Twice she has had nine assists and is averaging 5.6 per game.
The Gamecocks attack continues to target the greats, placing All-American center Aliyah Boston so she can do what she wants and also focusing on striker Victaria Saxton, an underrated member of the team averaging almost 11 points and more than six rebounds.
But if the USC wants to speed up, free Henderson, Zia Cooke and Brea Beal among the other guards to directly attack the opposition, it works.
“Henny can push that ball to the floor. We are encouraging our wards to run with her, to create some options for her and them to shoot open, and our big shots are also running on the ground, ”said Staley. “If it is a game in which the two teams are throwing the ball at each other, I like our resistance, I like where we are. This will benefit us. But we will certainly have to slow them down a bit and not allow them to play at the breaking speed they play. “
Arkansas is the first in the SEC to score, with point guard Chelsea Dungee as the league’s top scorer. But USC is second, and its defense is fourth, while Arkansas reaches 13.
Razorbacks occupy a unique place in the recent history of the SEC. They are the only team to win Gamecocks between the last six SEC tournaments.
They will run, but Henderson intends to make them run while chasing her.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.