#9 Maryland at #10 South Carolina on Sunday (11/18) - who wins

[Jmsdawg]

So with this embarassment one thing is clear ...MD is better than #9 or SC is worse than #10. I vote SC drops to #15 or 16

Beating SC at home is difficult, dominating them at home requires a special team. For me this is the most impressive win so far, MD deserves to move up to the elite level, top 5 in my mind.

 

[DallasBUFan]

Beating SC at home is difficult, dominating them at home requires a special team. For me this is the most impressive win so far, MD deserves to move up to the elite level, top 5 in my mind.

They were hard to beat at home when they had stars. They have no go to player. This isn't the same South Carolina we have have seen last few years.

 

[Plebe]

Beating SC at home is difficult, dominating them at home requires a special team. For me this is the most impressive win so far, MD deserves to move up to the elite level, top 5 in my mind.

I said in the preseason rankings thread that I saw Maryland as potentially underranked at #9. At this early stage it's tough to draw conclusions, but no doubt Maryland has raised eyebrows with this win. Shakira Austin can contend for NFOY.

 

[shiverz45]

With all those guards I can't believe none of them can shoot. At least Cuevas-Moore is streaky. She is cleared but Dawn is still holding her out. Maryland looks like a complete team. Good size on the inside and shooters on the outside. Blair Watson has a nice stroke.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Beating SC at home is difficult, dominating them at home requires a special team. For me this is the most impressive win so far, MD deserves to move up to the elite level, top 5 in my mind.

Too early for that. I've been watching this team all season and several things stand out. Shakira is a very special player. She could an All American as early as next season. When Blair Watson is hitting her shot, this team is special. She is the difference maker on the team. Charles is the star of the team but is not as great as some people make her out to be. But she is very skilled and very good and plays very hard. Mikesell is a more talented version of Confroy. Three point shooter but has good handle as well. Great first half by Lewis, not so much in the second half. Owusu will be the PG next season.

 

[Rixxx]

My thoughts: Cooper today was not fouling or the turnover machine she was at TN. SC is going to have to learn to play against a zone defense. SC is going to have to learn to shoot threes. As some one noted, both teams will be better by March. However, the whole top ten will be better by March also.

 

[shiverz45]

SC went 1-21 from 3 ! If they can't shoot the ball they better be able to defend or this is going to be a long season.

 

[shizam]

I have never been impressed with Dawn's usage of guards. SC's bigs are inferior compared to Maryland's. I wonder how they are gonna do against Oregon St. And maybe even ND.

Where is Alexis Jennings? She is projected as a possible 1st round WNBAer. Guess she is saving it for the tourney

 

[EricLA]

Tremendous beatdown by Maryland. Sort of harkens back to UCLA vs. Georgia - is Maryland better than everyone thought, or SC worse than everyone thought (or a combo of both)?

I'm betting by mid season, SC fans will be ready and eager for next season with the excellent trio of recruits Dawn has coming in. This year may be a bit of a bust for them.

 

[shizam]

With all those guards I can't believe none of them can shoot. At least Cuevas-Moore is streaky. She is cleared but Dawn is still holding her out. Maryland looks like a complete team. Good size on the inside and shooters on the outside. Blair Watson has a nice stroke.

Yes in a MD L’ville game Cuevas-Moore’s soph year Walz left her unguarded outside and begged her to shoot just so she wouldn’t feed it into Wilson etc. She couldn’t shoot then but she is probably better now

 

[shizam]

My thoughts: Cooper today was not fouling or the turnover machine she was at TN. SC is going to have to learn to play against a zone defense. SC is going to have to learn to shoot threes. As some one noted, both teams will be better by March. However, the whole top ten will be better by March also.

Dawn can’t coach. She needs superior talent. Her team looks dreadful and she looks disinterested.

 

[Beemer]

Well that was a thorough *** whipping by Maryland I kept waiting for SC to mount a comeback but it never came.

 

[DaBball]

Everyone was worried about Mississippi State’s 3 point abilities, but it seems SC’s may be a bigger liability until Cooper and Harris prove they can hit from deep. Oregon State will likely zone them at least a little too, similar to what they did vs. Tennessee last year. Slocum (and Dangerfield) over Cooper or Harris any day.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

Dawn can’t coach. She needs superior talent. Her team looks dreadful and she looks disinterested.

I thought she looked disinterested during UCONN's visit to SC last season. She didn't call time out to try to slow down runs, she sat on her chair for long stretches. Not at all what I expected.

 

[shiverz45]

Dawn can’t coach. She needs superior talent. Her team looks dreadful and she looks disinterested.

Superior talent? When she won her first SEC championship she had one McDonald's All American on the team and she was a Freshmen(Alaine Coates). The year before that she took a team with no one over 6' tall to the sweet 16. 7 straight seasons with 25 or more wins. Three of those season she didn't have Aja Wilson. Dawn never had more talent than Tennessee other than the Championship year. However she has won 4 sec regular season title and 4 sec tournament titles in 5 years. So get out of here with that superior talent nonsense.

 

[SimpleDawg]

I thought she looked disinterested during UCONN's visit to SC last season. She didn't call time outside to try to slow down runs, she sat on her chair for long stretches. Not at all what I expected.

She thinks SC will eventually weather this storm. It's still early in the season I know, but unless they plan to go 20-1 like Notre Dame did after that miserable beatdown by Louisville last year.... this game has to be taken a bit more seriously than Dawn shows.

 

[LoTrader]

I recorded the game and just finished watching. In the 4th quarter one of the announcers was cutting South Carolina some slack, saying SC is learning the new "motionless" offense. I'm sure she meant "motion" offense.

 

[JellyBean]

Maryland really out played South Carolina today. I mean it was no contest. Coach Dawn will get her troops ready for their next game and be focused. Maryland was just clicking today.

 

[shiverz45]

She thinks SC will eventually weather this storm. It's still early in the season I know, but unless they plan to go 20-1 like Notre Dame did after that miserable beatdown by Louisville last year.... this game has to be taken a bit more seriously than Dawn shows.

She thinks SC will eventually weather this storm. It's still early in the season I know, but unless they plan to go 20-1 like Notre Dame did after that miserable beatdown by Louisville last year.... this game has to be taken a bit more seriously than Dawn shows.

I saw her press conference and she seem upbeat and confident they will put it all together. The players seemed more angry than upset during the press conference.

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

Maryland really out played South Carolina today. I mean it was no contest. Coach Dawn will get her troops ready for their next game and be focused. Maryland was just clicking today.

I doubt "Dawn will get her troops ready for their next game ". They are very overrated and be out of the top 20 by the end of December.

 

[EricLA]

So I watched the game and it was the tale of 2 teams. SC came out gangbusters and was running and scoring. But when Maryland settled down and forced SC to play in the half court, everything fell apart for SC. Some observations:

1. The amount of 1 on 1 play for SC was mind boggling. More than that, their offense consisted of 1 of 3 things:
   1. Fast break bucket
   2. Guard dribble the ball around, drive, and jack up a contested shot - often against a double team
   3. A couple of passes, then the ball goes in to a post player who is determined to jack up a shot regardless of how low % of a shot it is
2. Maryland had some REALLY nice offense. UCONN fans often lament how little ball movement we see from other teams on offense. I can say I really enjoyed watching MD's offense - lots of flow, lots of passing, penetration and kick outs, and the guards were almost always alert with their heads up looking for an open player for an easy shot. Also a terrific mid-range game as well.
3. What is up with the fake eye lashes? Cooper for SC and Charles for MD among others practically had drag queen eye lashes on. Why on earth would anyone put on fake eye-lashes for a basketball game??
   1. In fairness, if the players have naturally outrageously long eye-lashes, I apologize for my criticism.
4. Shak Austin may have a great future as a terrific player, but the "custom" shorts thing bugs the heck out of me. The were so short and so tight they looked like volleyball player shorts. Why can't players just wear what the rest of the team wears? The whole "look at me" thing bugs.

Overall I'd say Maryland is really solid and fun to watch. SC is a bit of a hot mess and they have a LOT of work to do to be a legit sweet 16 team this year. In their favor, "someone" has to be ranked in the top 20 and even tho they looked pretty bad, there may not be 16 other teams better than them.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Chiney - Lobo half time hosts. I like the Combo.

That's a very tall and intelligent duo.

 

[EricLA]

I recorded the game and just finished watching. In the 4th quarter one of the announcers was cutting South Carolina some slack, saying SC is learning the new "motionless" offense. I'm sure she meant "motion" offense.

No -you nailed it. SC was running motionless offense...

 

[Gus Mahler]

Chiney - Lobo half time hosts. I like the Combo.

Wonder if this means Andy Landers won't be back.

 

[eebmg]

Too early for that. I've been watching this team all season and several things stand out. Shakira is a very special player. She could an All American as early as next season. When Blair Watson is hitting her shot, this team is special. She is the difference maker on the team. Charles is the star of the team but is not as great as some people make her out to be. But she is very skilled and very good and plays very hard. Mikesell is a more talented version of Confroy. Three point shooter but has good handle as well. Great first half by Lewis, not so much in the second half. Owusu will be the PG next season.

I have a soft spot for baby sisters and I really like how Stephanie Jones play's and her overall demeanor. She looks very solid to me.