[cardfan1996]

It was S.Carolina. Their Bigs rival our Bigs. As an example, Kiki would have had easy layups at the rim to start the game against literally any other team in Div 1 basketball but even S.Carolina’s athleticism at the rim bothered her.

So Haley was doing what you try to do going up against elite shot blockers - reverse it and use the rim to avoid the shot blocker

Dawn tried all of her best defenders (Beal) on Haley until she settled on Amihere who is a quick twitch athlete of another dimension. Unlike Beal, Amihere can not only go stride for stride on any dribble penetration like a guard but also challenge Haley at the rim with her 6’10” wingspan (longer than Boston and Cardozo). Beal is too short. Amihere is an evolved super athlete that is very rare in the women’s game - both cat quick and long. It was just better defense, and Stanford couldn’t move on to the next option because that option had fouled out. Defenses like UConn, Texas and S.Carolina turn you into 1-on-1 by design, and so you need more people on the floor that can operate accordingly

Edited to add: Difficult to stop and pop without any legs. Jump shooters need rest to be effective in the 4th quarter.

[cardfan1996]

It was S.Carolina. Their Bigs rival our Bigs. As an example, Kiki would have had easy layups at the rim to start the game against literally any other team in Div 1 basketball but even S.Carolina’s athleticism at the rim bothered her.

So Haley was doing what you try to do going up against elite shot blockers - reverse it and use the rim to avoid the shot blocker

Dawn tried all of her best defenders (Beal) on Haley until she settled on Amihere who is a quick twitch athlete of another dimension. Unlike Beal, Amihere can not only go stride for stride on any dribble penetration like a guard but also challenge Haley at the rim with her 6’10” wingspan (longer than Boston and Cardozo). Beal is too short. Amihere is an evolved super athlete that is very rare in the women’s game - both cat quick and long. It was just better defense, and Stanford couldn’t move on to the next option because that option had fouled out. Defenses like UConn, Texas and S.Carolina turn you into 1-on-1 by design, and so you need more people on the floor that can operate accordingly

Edited to add: Difficult to stop and pop without any legs. Jump shooters need rest to be effective in the 4th quarter.