Women’s Final Four Preview: South Carolina Vs. Louisville
South Carolina Gamecocks: The Gamecocks finished the regular season 33-2 and giving them the overall number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are now in the Final Four matching up against the Louisville Cardinals.
Last year the Gamecocks made it to the Final Four but lost by one to Stanford in the semifinals. With the same team coming back they look stronger and better than ever. In their elite 8 matchup they beat Creighton 80-50 led by Aliyah Boston who had 19 points.
The top three players to watch for with the Gamecocks is Zia Cooke, Destanni Henderson, and Aliyah Boston. Boston is a walking double-double she leads the team in points and rebounds with 16.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Henderson averages 11.1 points and 3.9 assists per game and Cooke averages 10.7 points per game. Henderson is their best shooter, she is shooting from 39 percent from three.
The Gamecocks have held their opponents to 32.7 percent from the field while they shot 42.6 percent from the field. When they shoot better than their average they are 20-0. They are 32-2 when they score at least 55 points as they averaged 71 points on the season. This team can score in bunches and when they do watch out.
Louisville Cardinals: The Cardinals finished their regular season with a record of 29-4. Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament they were able to secure a number one seed in the Midwest region.
The Cardinals made it to the elite 8 last year before losing to Stanford. Now they have made it one step further and look to face a team who was here last year. In their last matchup they faced Michigan where they won 62-50.
Hailey Van Lith is the Cardinals leading scorer averaging 14.5 points per game. Senior forward Emily Engstler is the leading rebounder averaging 9.4 per game this year and puts up 11.8 points as well. Kianna Smith lead the team in assists with 2.8 per game. She is the teams best three point shooter as well. She hits about two per game and shoots the long ball at 37 percent. In addition Smith scoring average is at 11.9 per game this year.
Just like South Carolina this Louisville team can score in bunches. They are 29-4 when they score over 50 points this season. The Cardinals are hitting about six three pointers a game while holding opponents to 4.8 per game. When they shoot around their average they are 15-0 this season.
Expect a dog fight in the first game of the Final Four.
