[ad_1]
MINNEAPOLIS — The 2022 ladies’s Last 4 is filled with a number of the most recognizable stars in ladies’s faculty basketball. South Carolina‘s Aliyah Boston. Stanford‘s Haley Jones. Louisville‘s Hailey Van Lith. UConn‘s Paige Bueckers.
However for as a lot as these standouts have acquired consideration for his or her double-double streaks, flashy performs or skill to provide you with clutch baskets in key moments, that may not be how Friday’s nationwide semifinals are received.
“I believe whoever performs the perfect protection [Friday] goes to win the sport, if I am being utterly trustworthy,” UConn senior guard Christyn Williams mentioned forward of the Huskies’ matchup in opposition to defending nationwide champion Stanford (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
All 4 groups superior to the Last 4 behind top-tier defenses. The 4 groups boast top-18 defensive scores in Division I ladies’s basketball, per Her Hoop Stats, permitting between 73.7 (South Carolina) and 81.5 factors (Stanford) per 100 possessions. All however Stanford are featured within the high eight.
What different components or gamers may make the distinction between successful and shedding on the season’s largest stage? ESPN’s Katie Barnes, Alexa Philippou and Mechelle Voepel provide their views, break down the South Carolina-Louisville (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Stanford-UConn matchups and predict which groups will advance to Sunday’s NCAA title recreation.
If superstars Haley Jones and Paige Bueckers each have big video games however cancel one another out with massive performances, which participant steps up because the difference-maker in Stanford-UConn?
Voepel: Stanford senior Lexie Hull at all times has had go-to scoring skill, however on a staff with so many threats, she will be able to typically be extra a “cog” than a star. But look who has led the best way in scoring the previous three video games on the highway to Minneapolis for Stanford: Hull with 36, 19 and 20 factors.
The 6-foot-1 guard has averaged 22.Zero PPG and 5.Three RPG whereas taking pictures 52.4% from the sector to this point on this NCAA match. Hull can also match UConn for playmaking hustle, as a result of she by no means stops shifting and can dive to the ground after a free ball with the form of scrappiness that Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer loves.
Philippou: Cameron Brink has turn into a pressure this season for the Cardinal, boasting the flexibility to attain in several methods (together with more and more from the 3-point arc), rebound and rim shield. Her third-quarter outburst in opposition to Texas (10 factors, three rebounds, three blocks, one steal in that body alone) was terrifying for any future opponent. However she has additionally been liable to foul hassle, choosing up 9 throughout the previous two video games and sitting a lot of the primary half of the Texas recreation when the Cardinal actually may have used her. Her 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes is within the 11th percentile amongst Division I ladies’s basketball gamers, per Her Hoop Stats.
Stanford has its finest likelihood of successful the longer Brink stays on the ground. And if she does, she’ll have the sting going up in opposition to a depleted UConn publish corps that is down to simply two bigs following Dorka Juhász season-ending wrist harm.
Barnes: For the Huskies to have an opportunity in opposition to Stanford, the postseason model of Christyn Williams might want to present up in an enormous manner. For the entire concentrate on Bueckers’ heroics down the stretch within the Elite Eight traditional in opposition to NC State, Williams additionally performed nicely, scoring 21 factors and snagging 5 rebounds. However these 21 factors had been inefficient. Williams shot 9-of-22 from the sector and 2-of-Eight from past the arc. Williams’ jumper has been inconsistent all through her profession, but when she’s on in opposition to Stanford, look out.
And to not cheat the system by sneaking in an additional level, however after Bueckers’ big efficiency, she’s seemingly to attract extra defensive consideration. That may create gaps for teammate Azzi Fudd to use. In opposition to NC State, Fudd was extra energetic off the dribble than she’s been in previous video games, and she or he may try this right here too if Stanford’s size disrupts her skill to catch and shoot.
In a battle of elite backcourts, what or who would be the X issue when South Carolina and Louisville meet?
Barnes: South Carolina senior guard Destanni Henderson has the flexibility to affect the sport at each ends of the ground. If she performs on the stage at which she’s proven she’s succesful, South Carolina may have a a lot simpler night time. Henderson has the flexibility to attain in any respect three ranges. And when she hits exterior photographs, like she did in opposition to Creighton, defenses have a a lot more durable time packing the lane in opposition to Boston. However as we noticed in opposition to Stanford in December, Henderson can also flip up the defensive stress and create together with her fast arms. Henderson’s protection within the third quarter in opposition to the Cardinal is an instance of how impactful she may be; she turned the tide nearly completely by herself.
Philippou: I will go together with the opposite South Carolina guard, Zia Cooke. Is she going to have a North Carolina-esque recreation (15 factors, 3-for-7 from 3), or a Creighton-esque efficiency (Zero factors, 0-for-Four taking pictures from the sector)? It isn’t only a matter of placing factors on the board; in the identical vein that Katie described, if Cooke begins hitting exterior photographs, groups will not be capable to pack the paint as simply and make issues powerful for Boston.
It bears reminding that Cooke — who has had a fairly inconsistent season — got here up big in final yr’s nationwide semifinal loss in opposition to eventual champion Stanford with a team-high 25 factors on 5-for-Eight taking pictures from 3; she’s completed it earlier than, however can she do it once more in opposition to Louisville’s protection? And even past Friday’s recreation, it is onerous for me to see South Carolina slicing down the nets with out Henderson and Cooke having actually robust video games within the ultimate as nicely.
Voepel: Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith does not need the Cardinals’ offense to get short-changed by the reward for his or her protection. She made that clear throughout the Wichita Regional, together with joking — then once more, she may need been severe — that the actual purpose the Cardinals play protection so nicely is as a result of they cannot wait to get the ball again to attain.
But Thursday, Van Lith acknowledged that each Louisville and South Carolina had been so good defensively that each offenses needed to be ready to grind their gears greater than common.
“Whether or not the ball goes in on the offensive finish for us, we’ll guard, and we’ll play protection and we’ll rebound,” Van Lith mentioned. “It will be an elite guard matchup, however I believe it is going to be who’s the mentally hardest to combat by way of the truth that these are each elite defenses and never get of their emotions about what’s occurring on the offensive finish.
“For us and our guards, if we shoot nice, wonderful. But when we do not, we’ll go defend and ensure they do not rating, both.”
In different phrases, no time to worry about photographs that do not go in. As a result of that may solely make two powerful defenses more durable.
1:11
Try the perfect moments from a number of the largest upsets within the 2022 NCAA ladies’s match.
Which one-on-one matchup are you most wanting ahead to seeing in Friday’s semifinals?
Philippou: To comply with the road of pondering I launched above, I am tremendous intrigued to see how Brink and UConn’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa fare in opposition to one another. Nelson-Ododa out-toughed NC State’s Elissa Cunane a lot of their Elite Eight matchup, although Nelson-Ododa’s foul hassle down the stretch affected her aggressiveness. Nelson-Ododa — and fellow massive Aaliyah Edwards for that matter — will not essentially put up loopy scoring numbers, however their skill to regulate the glass is a large X issue that allowed UConn to make it by way of the Bridgeport Area.
So who will throw the primary punch, so to talk, on Friday and capitalize if/when the opposing heart has to sit down?
“I believe staying out of foul hassle will probably be key for tomorrow,” Nelson-Ododa mentioned. “That is one thing Aaliyah and I’ve struggled with this match. We’re aggressive on the defensive finish, however simply understanding when to be sensible about it will be key.”
Barnes: Henderson vs. Van Lith will probably be a battle between two, hardworking guards who scrap, dive and do no matter it takes to get their staff a win. Each guards common slightly over three rebounds per recreation (3.Three for Henderson, 3.Four for Van Lith), regardless of their comparatively small stature (each are 5-foot-7). Van Lith carries a bigger scoring burden although, averaging 14.5 factors per recreation in comparison with Henderson’s 11.1 factors. If these two actually match up and go head-to-head, the claw for factors and potential defensive affect might be important. The winner of this battle on each ends of the ground may tip the steadiness of the sport in favor of both staff.
Voepel: Twenty-seven years in the past right here in Minneapolis, UConn met Stanford within the nationwide semifinals. Among the many gamers then had been the Huskies’ Rebecca Lobo and Jennifer Rizzotti and Stanford’s Kate Starbird and Kristin Folkl. However VanDerveer and Geno Auriemma are nonetheless on opposing sidelines, simply as they had been in 1995, and that is a matchup to observe Friday. They’re 1-2 on the profession victory checklist amongst D-I ladies’s coaches, with VanDerveer main 1,157-1,148.
There have been some onerous emotions coming into that recreation: Auriemma was ticked when he heard VanDerveer’s reply to a query about then-Huskies freshman Nykesha Gross sales. VanDerveer primarily mentioned she was good however, “We have 5 Nykesha Gross sales.” In reality, Stanford didn’t. UConn poured it on, successful 87-60 on its option to its first NCAA championship.
Then when Lobo made the touring staff that ready for the 1996 Summer season Olympics, she was criticized by USA coach VanDerveer as not being adequate to assist the Individuals. Auriemma did not admire that, both.
Nonetheless, Auriemma’s and VanDerveer’s relationship has by no means been as contentious as his coping with Tennessee’s Pat Summitt as soon as was and with former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw nonetheless is. Auriemma did get in slightly jab Thursday, speaking about how the regular-season collection between the applications went away.
“It did not get renewed,” he mentioned. “We performed at their place, then they had been supposed to return again to our place, and one thing acquired misplaced in translation, I suppose. We have at all times had nice video games with them. Some have been shut, some haven’t been shut.
“However I believe like us, they have not modified a lot over time. They nonetheless play the identical type of play. Once you watch them, you understand precisely what you are going to get. There is no surprises whenever you play Stanford. It isn’t like they’ll provide you with a brand new and totally different option to play yearly. They play onerous, they play collectively, they play positionless more often than not, they shoot the ball nice yearly. It is the identical Stanford staff that I bear in mind 27 years in the past enjoying round right here. It is simply totally different individuals.”
Which groups win Friday?
Final season, Stanford beat South Carolina within the nationwide semifinals. Are they headed for a rematch within the NCAA title recreation?
South Carolina vs. Louisville
Barnes: South Carolina
Creme: South Carolina
Philippou: South Carolina
Voepel: South Carolina
Stanford vs. UConn
Barnes: Stanford
Creme: Stanford
Philippou: Stanford
Voepel: Stanford
Source link