Final Four Preview: Texas tackles South Carolina for a spot in the national championship game

In the Final Four, Texas will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in their fourth matchup of the season. Texas is 1-2 against South Carolina this season and needs a strong performance to advance past Dawn Staley’s team and face the UCLA-UConn winner in the National Championship

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Like Texas, South Carolina is a 1-seed, along with the No. 1 overall seed, UCLA. UConn is the lone 2-seed remaining, but could have arguably been on the 1-line, losing only 3 games all season. Both UCLA and UConn would be tough teams for the Horns to beat, but for that to matter, they have to best the Gamecocks on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN in Tampa Fla.

Previous Matchups

South Carolina 67, Texas 50 – Jan. 12
In the first game between these two teams, the Horns, especially star Madison Booker, were ice cold. Texas shot just 27.8% for the game, while only hitting 20% of their threes and 50% of their free throws. Booker individually went 3/19 (15.8%), missing multiple layups and open shots. Compare that to South Carolina’s 51% shooting for the game, and it’s incredible that Texas lost by only 17. The Horns stayed in the game by forcing turnovers and dominating the offensive glass. They forced 22 turnovers, 10 more than they gave up, and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, 14 more than South Carolina. But, they still couldn’t overcome the shooting deficit, and fell to the Gamecocks for the first time this season.

Texas 66, South Carolina 62 – Feb. 9
In Austin, Texas shot much better than the first game. The Longhorns went 44.1% from the floor, and 66.7% from the free throw line. However, they failed to make a three all game. South Carolina shot slightly worse, at 36.8%, but made five threes. Texas still outrebounded South Carolina, but gave up more turnovers this game, leading to a close victory. Maison Booker bounced back well for Texas, scoring 20 points.

South Carolina 64, Texas 45 – Mar. 9
The third game of the season between these two teams was in the SEC Championship. Texas once again had a poor shooting night, hitting 29.6% of shots, and only shooting 12.5% from three. South Carolina shot 42.9% from the floor and 23.1% from three. Booker, Rori Harmon, and Taylor Jones, all scored in double figures, but were all relatively inefficient, and no one else on the team was able to step up. Both teams rebounded at a similar rate, with the Gamecocks having a slight edge. Texas turned it over 3 more times than South Carolina.

Statistical Profile

• Record: 34-3, 15-1 SEC
• Quad 1 Record: 16-3
• Net Ranking: 2
• Season Stats: 80.5 ppg, 40.5 rpg, 16.7 apg, 9.5 spg, 5.7 bpg, 12.1 TO
• Shooting: 46.5% from the field, 32.8% from three, 76.5% from free throw

Impact Players

MiLaysia Fulwiley – G
Fulwiley is a very good player for the Gamecocks. She’s South Carolina’s second-leading scorer this season at 11.9 ppg and an active defender, averaging 1.6 spg. In the game in Austin, she gave Booker some trouble at times, stealing the ball and scoring a layup in transition.

Chloe Kitts – F
Kitts has been playing exceptional as of late, scoring double digits in her last 9 games. On the season, she averages 10.4 ppg and 7.9 rpg. In the SEC Championship game, she had near a double-double against the Horns, and made it tough for the Texas bigs to get into any rhythm.

Joyce Edwards – F
Edwards is the leading scorer for South Carolina this season, with 12.7 ppg. She also adds 4.8 rebounds per outing. But what she has killed Texas in is transition. On multiple occasions, she has gotten behind the defenders, such as Jones, and gotten easy layup opportunities. Texas needs to make sure they prevent that from happening and stop the Gamecocks from stealing away momentum after baskets.

Texas’ Keys to game

Make some threes
Texas has made a combined two three-pointers against the Gamecocks this season. South Carolina is too good inside, and has too great of length and help defense for Texas to stand a chance without some threes. Players like Harmon and freshman Jordan Lee need to hit a few outside shots to allow the bigs inside for some space. And if Shay Holle could finally get hot, this Texas team could be tough to beat.

Take care of the ball
Texas has done a good job of turning over their opponents this season, (e.g. Elite Eight game vs TCU), but needs to make sure to take care of the ball against South Carolina. The Horns have had many moments where they use sloppy entrance passes into Jones, or don’t protect their dribble. The aggressive South Carolina defense will be sure to take advantage, and Texas, based on their previous shooting performances against the Gamecocks, will need to make the most of every possession.

Get back in transition
As previously mentioned when talking about Edwards, South Carolina pushes the ball down the court better than nearly every team in the nation. Texas, especially players like Jones, Kyla Oldacre, and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, will need to rush down the court to prevent easy layups for South Carolina.

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Texas will have to play some of its best basketball if they want to play for a chance at a national championship.