Post players are having a major impact on the NCAA women’s tournament.
The teams that reached the Sweet 16 teams are receiving important contributions from their “Bigs”.
The impressive list includes:
– Aliyah Boston. The South Carolina All-American had 39 points and 25 rebounds in their first two NCAA games in their career, when the Gamecocks reached the round of 16 for the seventh consecutive year.
– Sedona Prince. The six-foot-tall Prince of Oregon became the center of attention in sports programs with dunk during warm-ups before the Ducks rallied for a second round victory against Georgia to reach the regional semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.
– Olivia Nelson-Ododa. With 6-5, UConn Huskie has 39 points from two games. UConn is on Sweet 16 for the 27th consecutive season.
There will be plenty of time on the court this weekend; 13 of the teams start with at least one player 6 to 3 or taller.
“I’ll be watching this,” said Debbie Antonelli, a college basketball analyst and announcer.
Boston, one of Gamecock’s talented sophomores, has been a constant influence, as her team handled high expectations after success the previous season. South Carolina spent the last 10 weeks of the 2020 season in first place and won its 26 consecutive final games before COVID-19 ended what appeared to be a deep tournament.
During the off-season, Boston worked to improve his physical and technical conditioning under the basket. The results were an All-American season in which she averaged a double-double.
“The energy she puts into a game and preparation, and the duration of the 40 minutes being played, is unmatched by any player at the high school level,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “Take this to the bench on both sides of the basketball.”
Boston and South Carolina, the seed for the Hemisfair region, will play on Sunday against fifth seed Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets advanced in part due to 6-4 Lorela Cubaj, who has 35 points and 22 rebounds combined in the two wins in the Yellow Jackets tournament.
The Prince of Oregon has been a focal point on and off the court in this tournament. The transfer from Texas, which had not played for two seasons because of a fractured right leg in 2018, gradually put her on the team. She is third on the team with 10.7 points per game.
She also initiated calls for equal treatment between male and female tournaments with her video on social media showing the disparity between weight and training facilities at the two events. Spoiler alert – the men’s tournament in Indiana had a more luxurious setting.
“I hope you see that women’s basketball is not boring. It’s fun. It’s exciting, ”she said earlier this week. “It is different from men’s basketball, but in an incredible way. We play hard and with our hearts and there are so many fundamentals.
“It is such a different game, so we wanted to show that we are fun to watch.”
Prince and sixth place Ducks will play second place in Louisville, in the Alamo region, on Sunday.
The buzz when UConn plays in 5th place in Iowa is the high profile contest between the freshmen Paige Bueckers for the Huskies and Caitlin Clark for the Hawkeyes. But there will also be plenty of action close to the basket, with Nelson-Ododa from UConn and Monika Czinano from Iowa 6-3, who averaged 18.5 points and seven rebounds in the tournament.
Czinano leads the country in percentage of field shots (66.9%) and has become the preferred target for Clark’s inland passes.
Antonelli believes that versatility is the key for post players.
Gone are the days when a player could plant himself inside and make basket after basket. Complex schemes and swarming defenders make it essential for the big shots to kick out or pass to open teammates.
“This is how the game evolved,” she said.
The women’s field is full of versatile players.
Defending champion Baylor, sown second in the River Walk region, has 6-3 Queen Egbo, who has an average of 11.3 points and 8.6 rebounds. She also has 35 steals, drawing third in the team. Baylor will face Michigan on Saturday.
The state of North Carolina, the number 1 seed in the Mercado region, features 6-5 Elissa Cunane, a strong junior who helped Wolfpack return to Sweet 16 for a third consecutive tournament. The state of North Carolina faces Indiana on Saturday.
Cunane had to improve his outside shot and passing ability to thrive within this season.
“I had to learn that,” said Cunane, who best combined his career in assist and reduced his turnover from 76 to 42 this season.
And don’t forget choice # 1 designed in the next WNBA draft: 6-5 Charli Collier.
She helped Texas Longhorns reach the regional semifinals for the first time in three years. Collier, a third-year student, plans to graduate this spring and has declared her intentions to become professional.
First, though, she and the Longhorns face Maryland with a spot on Elite Eight on Sunday.
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