[81alum]

Maryland fell apart in the second half.  Lobo observed that Stanford was one of the few teams that could match up with South Carolina, said something like "They have enough big bodies to clog the paint against Boston, and they have the ability to hit threes.  But last year they had problems with the South Carolina pressure."

I think she is right.  On defense we need to control Boston which probably means a double team of two bigs on her.  We will wind up giving up some perimeter jumpers, but that is the poison we need to pick.  Put Emma-Nnopu on Cooke (or whoever can guard her) and force others to do the scoring for South Carolina.

On offense I like our chances.  Jump will be closely guarded and so it will become a 4 on 4.  Boston can probably control Iriafen or whoever we play at the 5, but I'm not sure who can really defend Jones, and Brink can probably get by Saxton.  We can score points on them.  The key will be limiting their offensive rebounds and limiting our turnovers.

For those who are skeptical of Jones at point--take a look at Amihere for South Carolina.  She doesn't start, but a 6'4" point-forward who runs like a gazelle is a match-up nightmare.  We need to be prepared for that too.  Brink, probably.

We simply need to play our first half from last year against them--for two halves--in the friendlier confines of Maples.  But the national media is really building up this game.

[81alum]

Maryland fell apart in the second half.  Lobo observed that Stanford was one of the few teams that could match up with South Carolina, said something like "They have enough big bodies to clog the paint against Boston, and they have the ability to hit threes.  But last year they had problems with the South Carolina pressure."

I think she is right.  On defense we need to control Boston which probably means a double team of two bigs on her.  We will wind up giving up some perimeter jumpers, but that is the poison we need to pick.  Put Emma-Nnopu on Cooke (or whoever can guard her) and force others to do the scoring for South Carolina.

On offense I like our chances.  Jump will be closely guarded and so it will become a 4 on 4.  Boston can probably control Iriafen or whoever we play at the 5, but I'm not sure who can really defend Jones, and Brink can probably get by Saxton.  We can score points on them.  The key will be limiting their offensive rebounds and limiting our turnovers.

For those who are skeptical of Jones at point--take a look at Amihere for South Carolina.  She doesn't start, but a 6'4" point-forward who runs like a gazelle is a match-up nightmare.  We need to be prepared for that too.  Brink, probably.

We simply need to play our first half from last year against them--for two halves--in the friendlier confines of Maples.  But the national media is really building up this game.