NCAA Final Four: South Carolina and Texas go at it again

TAMPA, Fla.

Among the many things Texas coach Vic Schaefer admires about South Carolinas Dawn Staley, her consistency stands out the most.UConns Geno Auriemma has set the standard in womens basketball with 24 Final Four appearances and 11 national titles, both records.For Schaefer, Staley whos in her seventh Final Four and seeking her fourth title, all in the span of 11 seasons is next.I have a great deal of respect and admiration for both of them because they have done it at an incredible level, Schaefer said.

And theyre very consistent year in and year out.

In any profession, yall, no matter what youre doing, thats what you strive for.

If youre worth your salt, youre trying to be the best.Schaefers Longhorns will meet Staleys Gamecocks Friday night in the Final Four of the womens NCAA Tournament, with Texas trying to stop South Carolina from playing for a second straight title.The teams, both No.

1 seeds, know each other well.

The national semifinal will be their fourth time playing this season.

South Carolina won two of three, including last month in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final.Staley is in the Final Four for the fifth straight season as South Carolina tries to become the first repeat champ since UConn won four straight from 2013-2016.Shes also had plenty of success against Schaefer.

When he coached at Mississippi State, his Bulldogs went 0-3 against South Carolina during the 2016-17 season, including losing to an Aja Wilson-led Gamecocks team in the national championship game.None of that matters to Staley.Were not going to rely on our success against them to say, Hey, we beat them, she said.

Im looking at the loss from this year and how we can prevent that.The team with the rebounding edge has won each of the previous three meetings.

South Carolina outrebounded Texas 42-40 on Jan 12 and won in a blowout.

Texas won on the boards in the rematch, with a 42-35 advantage, and beat South Carolina by four points.

When the Gamecocks blew out the Longhorns in the SEC Tournament, South Carolina pulled down 37 rebounds to Texas 35.The more impressive stat from that game was how the Gamecocks dominated in the post, scoring 40 points in the paint and limiting the Longhorns who take pride in overwhelming opponents near the basket to 18 points in the paint.Chloe Kitts, South Carolinas 6-foot-2 forward, said her team is clearly at a size disadvantage against Texas, which has 6-6 center Kyla Oldacre and 6-4 forward Taylor Jones.

Rebounding could come down to the Gamecocks guards.Its kind of hard to rebound down there with those big girls, so our guard rebounding is gonna be super important for us, Kitts said.

And then obviously boxing out is just super important.

So we just need to really key in on that.Defensive battleThe Longhorns have the same goal in every game hold their opponent to 60 points or fewer.For most of the season, that hasnt been too hard.

Texas has one of the best defenses in the country, allowing around 55 points per game.Texas bottled up one of the nations highest-scoring teams, TCU, in their Elite Eight matchup.

The Longhorns held the Horned Frogs to 47 points on Monday, well below TCUs season average of 76.7.When were playing our best defense and keeping the score pretty low, I think we have a better chance, senior guard Rori Harmon said.Harmon expects Fridays game to be low-scoring, with both teams featuring tough defenses.The name of the game is just who is going to win it more on the biggest stage that were at right now, Harmon said, and who is going to be tougher and bring the most energy.Seatbelt gangSouth Carolina players gave themselves a nickname after they saw Dijonai Carrington, who plays for the WNBAs Dallas Wings, make a defensive play in a game then simulate fastening a seatbelt.She said Seatbelt Gang, guard Raven Johnson said.

So me and Breezy (guard Bree Hall) were like, Were lock-down defenders.

We need to be part of Seatbelt Gang.

...

Honestly, it means dont come on our island when it comes to defense.

When were in front of you, just know youre going to have to make a tough bucket.Hall typically guards the opposing teams top scorer, so shell draw the primary assignment against SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker, whos averaging 18.7 points in the postseason for Texas.Staley said Hall is ready for the challenge.Shes really locked in when it comes to that side because she knows that shes got to do her part, Staley said.

And her part is a big part that we rely on to get wins.

And thats not scoring a whole lot of points.

Its actually preventing our opponents from scoring a lot of points.Shes in my top five in my 25 years of coaching.Related ArticlesSwanson: UCLA womens first Final Four has been a work in progressUSCs JuJu Watkins named Naismith Womens College Basketball Player of the YearRashaun Agee, USC crush Tulane in College Basketball Crown openerSwanson: Without JuJu Watkins, USC falls to UConn in Elite EightUSC women see Final Four dreams dashed by Paige Bueckers, UConn again.

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