The last weekend of a memorable, unusual and historic women’s basketball season came with the final quarterfinals of Friday, with two Pac-12 teams competing for Sunday’s national championship.
No. 1 Stanford (29-2) vs. No. 1 South Carolina (26-4)
History: Stanford has 5 to 1 against South Carolina; Gamecocks won the last meeting between the two teams in the 2017 national semifinals, 62-53.
Connections: South Carolina coach Dawn Staley played for Tara VanDerveer on the 1996 Olympic women’s basketball team.
Journey NCAA 2021: Stanford defeated 16 Utah Valley State 87-44, 8 Oklahoma State 73-62; 5 Missouri State 89-62 and 2 Louisville 78-63; South Carolina defeated 16 Mercer 79-53, 8 Oregon State 59-42, 5 Georgia Tech 76-65, 6 Texas 62-34.
Initial lineups: Stanford, Kiana Williams G, Anna Wilson G, Haley Jones G, Lexie Hull G / F, Cameron Brink F / C; South Carolina, G Zia Cooke, C Aliyah Boston, G Destanni Henderson, F Victoria Saxton, G Brea Beal
Key players: Stanford, Kiana Williams (14.5 ppg, 2.6 ppt). The senior guard sets the tone for the Cardinal; South Carolina, Aliyah Boston (13.8 ppg, 11.4 rpg), perhaps the best inland player in the country, but hit just 2 in 11 on the ground against Texas.
X Factors: Stanford, Lexie Hull. The junior wing of Cardinal kept them in the game against Louisville with their agility and their ability to reach the free throw line. If there is a major theft or a dispute over the ball in an endgame situation, Hull will be in the middle of it. South Carolina, Laeticia Amihere. Amihere, a sophomore striker, averages 11 points and eight rebounds in four games of the tournament, joining the squad to replace the injured Lele Grissett.
The Matchup: This will be a clash against one of the best offensive teams in the country at Stanford and its most dangerous defensive teams in Gamecocks. Stanford has several players who can score in groups, as evidenced by Ashen Prechtel’s star turn in Elite Eight’s victory over Louisville on Tuesday. And that will give South Carolina a lot of defensive work to do. Gamecocks’ top scorer is playmaker Zia Cooke, who is likely to have Anna Wilson as her defender overnight. Stanford wins on the depth score, consistently bringing 11 players into the game during the postseason, but South Carolina kept Texas goalless in the fourth quarter in the regional final, proving that they have the ability to stop Stanford’s offensive flow . If the Cardinal starts hitting 3 points, it could be a long night for Gamecocks who don’t have 3 for their own attack. Gamecocks are going to need a big Boston night and it will be interesting to see how much Stanford’s size and length prevent it from the inside.
What Stanford must do to win: Rebound. South Carolina is outperforming its opponents with an average of 14.7 per game. The cardinal will need to hit the glass to keep the ball on the edge of the ground and increase the chances of a goal, and to start the transition game.
What Stanford cannot do: Play a sock like they did against Louisville. That freak, in which the cardinal seemed stuck in the mud in attack and defense for more than 20 minutes, will not pass the test in a game in the national semifinal.
No. 3 Arizona (20-5) vs. No. 1 Connecticut (28-1)
History: Connecticut has a 1-0 record against Arizona, winning 74-57 in the 1998 NCAA tournament.
Connections: Former Arizona head, TeeTee Starks, is currently serving as a graduate assistant in Connecticut.
Journey NCAA 2021: Arizona defeated 14 Stony Brook, 79-44, 11 BYU 52-46, 2 Texas A&M 74-59, 4 Indiana 66-53; Connecticut defeated 16 High Point 102-59, 8 Syracuse 83-47, 5 Iowa 92-72, 2 Baylor 69-67.
Initial lineups: Arizona, G Aari McDonald, F Sam Thomas, F Cate Reese F Trinity Baptiste; Connecticut, G Christyn Williams, G Paige Bueckers, G Evina Westbrook, F Aaliyah Edwards, F Olivia Nelson-Ododa
Key players: Arizona, Aari McDonald (20.3 ppg), coming from consecutive games of 30 points in the NCAA Tournament; Connecticut, Paige Bueckers (19.5 ppg, 6.6. Apg), the national player of the year as a freshman.
X Factors: Arizona, Cate Reese. Junior striker Wildcat will hold things inside, but she also needs to score more than she has already scored (6.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament) to keep Arizona close in this game. Connecticut, Aaliyah Edwards, who averages 14.5 points per game with 77 percent shots.
The Matchup: It will be the first time against the 11-time national champions, and the Wildcats say they are ready to play as if they have nothing to lose in a game in which they would be a prohibitive underdog. But Arizona and trainer Adia Barnes have something that no one else in the country has: point guard Aari McDonald, who scored double digits in 91 consecutive games, has two consecutive 30-point games before the match and says she would be willing to take her own mother to reach the national championship trophy. The Huskies, for their part, have their own star, the freshman Paige Bueckers, who has just been elected the national player of the year. Only two players in the Connecticut squad, playmaker Christyn Williams and striker Olivia Nelson-Ododa, have played in the Final Four – and have never won one – so the advantage of the experience on the ground is not as wide as it seems. But Connecticut will be a major challenge for the defense of Arizona, which imposes a turnaround on 22.5% of its opponents’ possessions.
What Arizona must do to win: As trainer Adia Barnes said, “play in the defense of Arizona”. Be aggressive and try to create a defense attack outside the midfield.
What Arizona can’t do: Let Connecticut run. The Huskies ran a 19-0 run on Monday night to condemn Baylor and that’s the kind of thing that just can’t happen on the big stage in Arizona on Friday night.