South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - UConn

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1. So Raven
Raven Johnson had her coming out party against UConn last season. She started the second half, taking over for starter Kierra Fletcher, both a symbolic and practical passing of the baton. 

Johnson shut down Nika Mühl, who had torched Fletcher in the first quarter. She finished with 14 points and seven assists, career-highs at the time. 

Johnson’s performance was a surprise a year ago, but now it’s expected. She averages 9.1 points and 5.2 assists, and she is fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. Johnson leads South Carolina’s fast-paced attack with her passing and aggressive defense.

Whether Johnson guards Muhl again, Paige Bueckers, or someone else, her mission is the same: play fast and make the Huskies try to keep up.

“Raven knows what her superpower is,” Dawn Staley said. “She gives it to us on a day-to-day basis. Every time she steps on the floor she’s playing very fast on both sides of the basketball. I think sometimes it helps us tremendously defensively and it might hurt us a little offensively, but I’d rather have it that way than motivate her to play faster and quicker.”

2. Chloe vs Paige
Injuries have forced UConn into an unusual starting lineup that, as least nominally, has Mühl at the point guard and Bueckers as the power forward. That means Bueckers will be matched up against Chloe Kitts, again, at least nominally.

That’s a matchup that has to worry both sides. South Carolina doesn’t want Kitts chasing Bueckers around the perimeter, and UConn doesn’t want Bueckers wasting energy and fouls trying to keep Kitts away from the rim.

Look for both sides to do some cross-matching. In the 2022 national championship game, South Carolina limited Bueckers by having Destanni Henderson harass her full court, taking advantage of Henderson’s quickness and strength for her size. 

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Staley could have Raven Johnson try to repeat that success. She could also use a taller, longer defender like Bree Hall. Or she could let Kitts try her best and hope she makes up for it on the other end (the way she used Kitts against Aneesah Morrow). Staley has a lot of options.

“She’s good. There’s no fat to Paige’s game. It’s all lean,” Staley said. “Everything that she does has a purpose. There’s no wasted movement out here on the floor. If you have some slippage defensively, she’s going to make you pay with her shot, she’s going to make you pay with her vision, she’s going to make you pay with rebounding the basketball. She’s that kind of player. Super well put together and I think she’s put the work in.”

Kitts doesn’t have to outplay Bueckers, or even keep her from hitting her average of 20.3 points. She just has to be efficient and play her game. The team that can better manage the mismatch and get efficient production from the position probably wins the game.

3. Kamilla ainda está ausente
South Carolina is playing its second – and hopefully final – game without leading scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso. The first game, an 83-45 win over Missouri, was one of South Carolina’s best games of the season (for three quarters). 

“We showed that we can execute and go out there and get a win without her,” Hall said. “But we miss her very much, dearly.”

That will be clear on Sunday. Last season, Uconn’s Aaliyah Edwards had 25 points to lead the Huskies, but she only played 28 minutes because she got into foul trouble trying to defend Cardoso and Aliyah Boston. She won’t have to worry about that this season.

Ashlyn Watkins presents a different kind of challenge for Edwards. Cardoso would have tried to get the ball deep in the post against Edwards and shoot over her. Watkins will try to do some of that, but she’ll also step out and try to drive on Edwards. 

When Sania Feagin is in the game, Edwards needs to take advantage of Feagin’s weaker defense. On the other end, Feagin has a chance to get Edwards in foul trouble.

Sakima Walker could be important if there is foul trouble. She hasn’t played much this season but is another big body (with five fouls) that Edwards has to deal with.

4. FAM-formation
The game is officially a sellout. As a result, arena doors will open early at 12:30 pm. There is also a fan shuttle running from the free lot at Founder’s Park to Colonial Life Arena. The shuttle runs from noon to 5:00 pm. 

South Carolina announced this week that the February 18 game against Georgia is also a sellout. It gives South Carolina four consecutive Sunday sellouts and adds to the program record for sellouts in a season. 

Unfortunately, the all-time attendance record is out of reach. Even if South Carolina also sells out the games against Alabama and Tennessee, the season average will be 15,564. That is one person shy of Tennessee’s all-time record (1998-99). It is still a program record and the second-best mark ever

Gives FAMs room to improve next season, I guess.

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5. Scouting the Huskies
Through UConn’s run of dominance, the Huskies have been known for their fluid offense, rebounding, and on-ball pressure. Oddly, those are the same things the Huskies struggle with this season.

Mühl and Bueckers are elite point guards on their own, but in losses, UConn has struggled to find a balance between the two. Mühl was scoreless in the loss to Notre Dame, and she hasn’t scored in double figures in any of UConn’s losses.

Bueckers is a good rebounder for a guard. But as a starting four, her 4.5 rebounds a game are below average. UConn averages just 37.4 rebounds per game, well below South Carolina’s average of 47.2.

The Huskies’ most glaring deficiency has been their perimeter defense. In their losses, opposing point guards have gotten to the rim at will. Saniya Rivers (33 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), Kiki Rice (24 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists), Rori Harmon (27 points, 13 assists, five rebounds), and Hannah Hidalgo (34 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) averaged 29.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists. 

UConn has to keep South Carolina’s dribble penetration under control. They haven’t done it yet, but Geno Auriemma hasn’t won 1,200 game because he can’t make adjustments.

“You’re always playing the tradition of their program,” Staley said. “They’re always within striking distance of winning any basketball game that they play. “

The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (22-0, 10-0 SEC) vs #11 UConn (20-4, 12-0 Big East)
When: 2:00 ET, Sunday, February 11
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: ESPN

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