What if…? USF Women
The UConn Huskies went to Tampa this past weekend to play the South Florida Bulls. The Huskies won, 63-38, a margin not too different from the teams’ previous meeting in January, a 81-53 UConn victory. It sounds like UConn dominated both games but the final scores hide the fact that the Huskies struggled to pull away from USF in the first game and in the second game were held to their lowest point total of the season.
Fluke games, right? Not really. Remember the 2004 UConn-USF game at Gampel when the Huskies needed an overtime to get the win over USF? And last year, the Bulls scared the heck out of Notre Dame which needed a 32 point effort from Natalie Novosel to prevail. In 2009, USF won the postseason WNIT while beating some pretty good teams along the way. This season, USF held Louisville to only 62 points but couldn’t control Shoni Schimmel. And that raises a question – what if USF had one or two more really good players, like a Shoni Schimmel or, better yet, a Stefanie Dolson?
USF Head Coach Jose Fernandez is a terrific X’s and O’s guy. His offense is pretty good, the passing is crisp and decisive and I thought the Bulls’ spacing was good as well. There is a tendency to rush or take off balance shots, though, which leads to a lot of airballs or bricks but everything that leads up to the shot is well-coached, IMO. The Bulls also play hard for the entire game. Courtney Williams and Olga Orekhova are great guards, but USF is weak in the post. Alisia Jenkins has had some good games but she’s inconsistent and Akila McDonald seems unable to control her emotions.
If Fernandez had a Dolson on the roster, it would take an immense amount of pressure off of Williams and Orekhova. The ability to run the inside-out game from the paint would give USF even more open looks and more time to set up shooters on the perimeter, leading to more made baskets. (A lot of things Stefanie Dolson does for the Huskies don’t even have a name, much less a spot on the box score.) Right now, USF doesn’t have that facilitator in the paint.
All that would be great for USF but its biggest issue is its inconsistency. The team plays hard, and for all 40 minutes, but Courtney Williams is the only one that has impacted the scoring column in every game. If teams can shut her down, or at least slow her down, then USF will continue to struggle. A consistent second or, better yet, third option would make a huge difference. You get the feeling the Bulls are almost there, but they need a bit of a talent upgrade, especially in the post that could make the Bulls scary good.
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