South Carolina vs. UConn

• When: Monday, 7 p.m.

• Where: Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y.

• Records: South Carolina 29-6; UConn 35-0

• TV: ESPN

• Radio: WTIC-1080; WELI-960; WILI-1400; WGCH-1490

• Internet: ESPN3

KEEP AN EYE ON

• Clash of the Titans: Four players from UConn and five from South Carolina have played on national championship teams. How rare is it for two teams with championship pedigree going head to head? The last two national championship teams haven’t squared off in the NCAA women’s Division I tournament since Tennessee topped UConn in 1997 en route to the second of three straight titles. It also took place in 1991 when Tennessee beat Stanford and in 1984 when the first two NCAA Division I title holders (Louisiana Tech and Southern California) met in the Final Four. More recently, Kristen Grant was the only holdover from the 2011 Texas A&M championship team to meet the 2013 champion UConn team in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

• Turnover city: When UConn rolled to the 83-58 win over South Carolina on Feb. 1, the Huskies capitalized on almost every mistake by the Gamecocks to race out to a 29-point halftime lead as the Huskies scored 16 points off eight first-half USC turnovers. By game’s end, UConn outscored South Carolina 23-3 in points off turnovers. South Carolina has committed 55 turnovers in three games in the NCAA tournament, including 26 in a Sweet 16 game against Buffalo. A repeat of that performance could be a recipe for disaster for the Gamecocks.

• Tempo, tempo, tempo: Quinnipiac and Duke have been able to keep UConn from getting out in transition as much as the Huskies would like. If South Carolina can keep the score in the 60s, it would be to its benefit as the more possessions and shots that UConn gets, the more difficult it could be for the Gamecocks to keep pace. One thing aiding the Huskies is the fact that All-American forwards Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams have been putting up some assist/turnover numbers in the postseason that would make point guards jealous. Collier has 26 assists and four turnovers while Williams a team-best 27 assists versus only seven turnovers in three games in the American Athletic Conference tournament and the first three NCAA tournament games.

• Passing fancy: Kia Nurse has 99 assists this season and her next one would give the Huskies five players with at least 100 assists, something that has been done four times in program history. Nurse has been involved in three of the previous four times it has been achieved. Speaking of impressive numbers, UConn is 18-5 in the Elite Eight. Even more impressive is that beginning with the 19992000 season, UConn is 15-2 in regional finals.

PROBABLE STARTERS

SOUTH CAROLINA

Player .................................. Pos ................................... PPG

Tyasha Harris ............................... G ............................... 10.7 Bianca Jackson ............................... G ............................... 7.3 Doniyah Cliney ............................. G/F ............................. 7.9 Alexis Jennings ............................................................. F 11.3 A’ja Wilson ................................ F/C ................................ 22.5 UCONN

Player Pos. PPG

Crystal Dangerfield ........................... G ........................... 9.2 Kia Nurse ................................... G ................................... 13.7 Katie Lou Samuelson ....................... F/G ....................... 17.5 Gabby Williams .............................. F .............................. 10.8 Napheesa Collier ............................. F ............................. 15.9

John Carl D'Annibale / Albany Times Union Napheesa Collier is getting ready for UConn’s Elite Eight matchup on Monday.