South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - Tennessee
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1. Kierra Fletcher’s ankle
Fletcher hurt her left ankle in the first half against Ole Miss. She briefly returned in the second quarter but then sat the rest of the game.
Fletcher was receiving treatment after the game and was unavailable to speak to the media. Dawn Staley said Fletcher could have played in the second half against Ole Miss and wanted to go back in the game, but they held her out.
Fletcher will likely be a game-time decision. If she can’t play, it becomes Raven Johnson’s show with help from Laeticia Amihere and Zia Cooke.
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2. Remember 2015
South Carolina beat Tennessee 62-46 in the 2015 SEC tournament final for its first tournament title. Aleighsa Welch was the tournament MVP, and Tiffany Mitchell scored 17 points in the title game as South Carolina pulled away in the second half.
Since that tournament, South Carolina has made the final seven more times and won six times. Tennessee, on the other hand, is playing on Sunday for the first time since then.
That tournament was in North Little Rock, so the game didn’t feature the full strength of the South Carolina and Tennessee fan bases. Sunday’s game should be much different.
3. Fatigue
South Carolina has the built-in advantage because the Gamecocks played in the early game, but they also were able to control their starters’ minutes through the last two games.
Fatigue will definitely be more of a concern for Tennessee. The Lady Vols played four starters for at least 35 minutes Saturday and had to claw back from a 17-point deficit.
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It was after 9:30 when Tennessee finished its postgame press conference, and probably after 10 when the Lady Vols left the arena.
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4. Scouting the Lady Vols
While South Carolina has used a deep, balanced attack during the SEC tournament, Tennessee has relied heavily on Rickea Jackson and Jordan Horston. Jackson had 26 points and is averaging 30 points through the two games. Horston is averaging 19 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 blocks in the tournament.
“Get the ball to your All-SEC players” is a fairly solid strategy, but South Carolina is good at beating teams that rely too much on a couple of players. Jackson had 21 points and Horston had 14 when the teams met in Knoxville, yet South Carolina won easily.
Jillian Hollingshed had 11 points against LSU and Tess Darby had 10.
In the last game against South Carolina, Tennessee doubled Aliyah Boston for the entire game, whether she had the ball or not. When Boston got the ball, she was usually triple-teamed. The Lady Vols were able to hold Boston to just 11 points and five rebounds, but Boston methodically picked apart the defense to get open shots.
How will Tennessee play Boston the second time around?
5. College GameDay
ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast from the front plaza of Bon Secours Wellness Arena Sunday morning. The show will air at noon on ESPN2 and cover all of the championship games Sunday.
It is the third on-site show for GameDay this season, following appearances at Tennessee and Iowa. GameDay was in Columbia, SC last season for the South Carolina-Tennessee game.
The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina vs #3 Tennessee
When: 3:00 ET, Sunday, March 5
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC
Watch: ESPN
