Unbeatens South Carolina, UConn put each other to test
There are a number of lenses through which Monday’s women’s basketball showdown between top-ranked Connecticut and No. 2 South Carolina can be viewed.
It’s a major road test for the three-time defending champs, it’s a chance for the recent power to challenge the old guard, it’s a potential Final Four preview on national TV (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2) — and so forth.
But perhaps the most important approach to take is simply that it is a chance to witness the sport’s two best teams square off, so enjoy it.
The fans in Columbia, S.C., have made plans to do just that, making the game a sellout well before the big date arrived.
“I think it’s great that we can host this kind of event here at South Carolina,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. “This is a great opportunity to measure ourselves on our home court.”
It’s the second year in succession that South Carolina brings a 22-0 record into its meeting with UConn. But last year’s encounter was in Storrs, and the Huskies came away with a 25-point victory that helped them regain the No. 1 ranking they would not relinquish for the remainder of the campaign. The season ended with UConn’s third consecutive national title and 10th overall under coach Geno Auriemma.
But that game was a steppingstone for the Gamecocks as well. They would go on to reach the Final Four for the first time. They were a win away from a rematch with UConn in the title game but fell a point short against Notre Dame in the semis. But day-to-day life in the Southeastern Conference has made it easy not to look ahead to this.
“UConn obviously has been the national champ for most of the time that our players have been paying attention to college basketball,” Staley said. “We knew Feb. 8 was going to get here, but we play in a really tough conference, so it’s pretty easy to keep your focus. I think we’ve done a really good job staying in the moment.”
Indeed, South Carolina has faced nine top-25 teams already this season, including Thursday’s home win against No. 18 Ken- tucky in its most recent outing. UConn has faced six, but only one of those, an American Athletic Conference win against South Florida, has come since the calendar turned to 2016.
But ranked opponent or not, the Huskies, also 22-0, have defeated every foe this season by double digits. A pair of 10-point triumphs against Notre Dame and Maryland have been their closest results.
“We try to put our team through challenges daily, and sometimes we have to conjure up those things,” Auriemma said after the Huskies’ most recent romp past East Carolina on Saturday. “Monday we don’t have to do that; the challenge will be there for us.
“Anytime you get the home team that is a great team playing on their home court in front of a sold-out arena, it’s great. ... I would expect it to be absolutely electric in that building.”
The Huskies bring a 59-game winning streak into Columbia. They are led by three-time Final Four MVP Breanna Stewart, who had her 34th career double-double over the weekend, and senior classmate Moriah Jefferson, who received the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation’s top point guard after her junior season.
Staley knows a bit about winning as well. The All-America point guard at Virginia and three-time Olympic gold medalist made Temple an NCAA tournament team in her first collegiate coaching stint before assuming the reins at South Carolina.
“We just want to showcase the kind of program we’ve built over the last eight years,” she said. “A couple of years ago nobody was talking about South Carolina. This is for our fans as well who’ve shown us the kind of support they have. Hopefully they can help us create some magic Monday night.”
“There’s obviously a lot to be concerned about, because you don’t get to be as good as they are by building your team around one player,” Auriemma said. “I just think they are a really, really good and well-balanced team.”