South Carolina women's basketball: Saturday night notebook
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How much does South Carolina’s win over UConn in November matter, and how did Saniya Rivers become the x-factor against Louisville?
Rivers
The biggest surprise from the semifinal win was the play of Saniya Rivers. Rivers didn’t play in the first three games of the tournament and then only played in garbage time against Creighton. But she played the entire second and fourth quarters against Louisville and was a key part of breaking Louisville’s pressure defense.
It was unexpected not only because Rivers hadn’t been part of the rotation, but also because she struggled when she first entered the game. Louisville went at her as soon as she checked in and got a couple of baskets. But a steal and layup seemed to settle Rivers down. Zia Cooke talked about how she helped keep Rivers focused even when she wasn’t playing.
“I just let her know to stay the course no matter how it goes,” she said. “Stay the course, believe in herself. Stay mentally strong. She’s been executing better, I think.”
The extended playing time came at Cooke’s expense, but Cooke seemed genuinely unbothered by losing some of her playing time.
“It’s part of sacrificing,” Cooke said. “(Staley) thought that was what was best to do. At the end of the day I’ve got to roll with that no matter how I feel. It really doesn’t matter. We have to win a national championship, so no matter If I’m playing or not, as long as the people on the floor are helping it doesn’t matter to me.”
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Remember November?
South Carolina beat UConn 73-59 in November in the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship Game. The Gamecocks dominated the glass 42-25 and held the Huskies to three points in the fourth quarter. Players and coaches were split on how much that game will matter Sunday night.
“The Bahamas game was eons ago,” Dawn Staley said. “What did we take it from it? We’re going to watch it a little bit because I liked how we were defending, and we can compare what it looks like from back in November to what it looks like now. I think we’ve gotten better, but we did a pretty good job in the Bahamas. We’ll look at it just probably to get our players’ juices flowing a little bit to see this is what we did.”
“I think that it comes back to every game is different,” said Victaria Saxton. “This game is the national championship game and it won’t be like the other game.”
Destanni Henderson thinks it provides a confidence boost, but “You can’t take any team lightly, especially during March Madness. We’ve been in that position where we have taken our foot off the pedal and we lost a couple games. We just have to play hard for all 40 minutes and all four quarters and make sure we’re the better team.”
However, Cooke thinks it does help to have played UConn before. “I honestly feel like it does help us in a way because it gives us a chance to know personnel. Since we played them before, we understand and know what their players are like and who they want to run through. Little things like that. Definitely playing the team more than once is good, especially when it comes to a moment like this.”
