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PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – The No. 2 UConn women's basketball team (3-0) finally squares off in the most anticipated matchup of the early season. They play No. 1 South Carolina (5-0) in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game today at noon ET. The game will be aired on ESPN and the UConn Sports Network. UConn defeated #23 USF yesterday 60-53. Paige Bueckers led UConn with 21 points and added seven assists. Freshman Azzi Fudd had her break out game with 18 points on six 3-pointers.
UConn is 22-3 all-time in No. 1 vs. No. 2 ranked matchups. The Huskies are 7-1 all-time as the second-ranked team.Top-ranked South Carolina beat No. 9 Oregon, 59-34, Sunday afternoon. This season, Aliyah Boston leads the Gamecocks with 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Destanni Henderson is averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 assists per game and is shooting 63.2 percent from 3-point range. Head coach Dawn Staley is in her 14th season at the helm at South Carolina.
Last year's record: 26-5 overall, lost in NCAA Tournament Final Four to Stanford.
Who's returning: In short, a lot. But it all starts with the might of the nation’s best center, Aliyah Boston, the two-time defending Lisa Leslie Award winner who returned to Columbia following a double-double a night and almost three blocks per game. Senior point guard Destanni Henderson evolved into a star as a full-time starter last year (12.2 points, 41.4% from 3) and looks poised for an even better senior year. And on top of all that is junior Zia Cooke, the squad’s leading scorer from last year at 15.9 points a game. This is a deserved No. 1 ranking.
The freshmen: South Carolina signed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for the second time in three years per espnW rankings, with Dawn Staley’s roster adding even more depth. Three of the top-five overall players—point guard Raven Johnson (No. 2), guard Saniya Rivers (No. 3) and forward Sania Feagin (No. 4)—signed on top of guard Bree Hall (No. 14), making for an incredible quartet of five-star talents. The trick for Staley may be figuring out when to plug in the new faces within an already-loaded roster and keeping that balance going throughout the grind of the season.
The transfer: There’s just one addition from the portal, but it’s a big one—literally and figuratively. Syracuse transfer Camilla Cardoso was a monster in the post for the Orange, winning the ACC’s Freshman and Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors with 13.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. The 6-foot-7 Brazilian should undoubtedly take some pressure off Boston in the post and will help to keep the Gamecocks’ rebound margin (14.4, third nationally) and blocks per game (7.0, tied for first) from a year ago at elite levels.
UConn freshman guard Azzi Fudd
Connecticut
AP Top 25 rankings: No. 2
Last year's record: 28-2 overall, lost in NCAA Tournament Final Four to Arizona.
Who's returning: A player with the hype level of Paige Bueckers needs little introduction. The 5-11 guard put up potentially the greatest freshman season in history in 2020-21, winning virtually every award she was eligible for as she took the country by storm. Back for her sophomore year with expectations now through the roof, she and the Huskies are looking for one of the few accolades that alluded her last year: a national championship. The four other starters from the Final Four loss return to try and help her do it, including guard Christyn Williams (an All-Big East first team nod with Bueckers) and 6-foot-5 forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa (the defending co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year).
The freshmen: South Carolina may have nabbed the country’s best recruiting class, but UConn got the nation’s best recruit. Guard Azzi Fudd has already won gold with the U.S. in three different international tournaments on top of being the Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year selected from a field of McDonald’s All-Americans, making her the early favorite for the nation’s top freshman this year. Joining her are two more five-star recruits in guard Caroline Ducharme and forward Amari DeBerry, a fine consolation for not being the top-ranked class for Geno Auriemma’s Huskies.
The transfer: If you’re a program like UConn that reloads yearly onto a team swamped with talent, you can attract the types of transfers like former Ohio State forward Dorka Juhász. A 6-5 grad transfer hailing from Hungary, Juhász averaged a double-double her final year with the Buckeyes, in which she also earned her second straight All-Big Ten first team nod on a team ranked for much of the season. Her 11.1 rebounds per game from last year makes for an imposing presence down low with Nelson-Ododa or 6-3 forward Aaliyah Edwards as Juhász could make a case for the starting lineup with effective play.
Here’s what you need to know about the game -
Site: Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Time: Noon ET
Series: UConn leads, 9-1
Last meeting: No. 2 UConn 63, No. 1 South Carolina 59 (OT), in Storrs, Feb. 8
TV: ESPN (Eric Frede, Carolyn Peck)
Radio: UConn IMG Sports Network on 97.9 ESPN (Bob Joyce, Debbie Fiske) Pregame show begins at 11:30 am.
South Carolina Roster - Head coach Dawn Staley (14th year at SC)
South Carolina Combined Team Statistics (as of Nov 21, 2021) All games
South Carolina Gamecocks Fun Facts
Aaliyah Edwards, F, 6-3, Paige Bueckers, G, 5-11, So.; Christyn Williams, G, 5-11, Sr.; Olivia Nelson-Ododa, F, 6-5, Sr.; Evina Westbrook, G, 6-0, R-Sr.
Massey's gameday prediction: South Carolina 69 - UConn 65
#BIGEASTwbb Minute: Notable Wins In 5-1 Sunday
UConn is 22-3 all-time in No. 1 vs. No. 2 ranked matchups. The Huskies are 7-1 all-time as the second-ranked team.Top-ranked South Carolina beat No. 9 Oregon, 59-34, Sunday afternoon. This season, Aliyah Boston leads the Gamecocks with 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Destanni Henderson is averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 assists per game and is shooting 63.2 percent from 3-point range. Head coach Dawn Staley is in her 14th season at the helm at South Carolina.
South Carolina
AP Top 25 ranking: No. 1Last year's record: 26-5 overall, lost in NCAA Tournament Final Four to Stanford.
Who's returning: In short, a lot. But it all starts with the might of the nation’s best center, Aliyah Boston, the two-time defending Lisa Leslie Award winner who returned to Columbia following a double-double a night and almost three blocks per game. Senior point guard Destanni Henderson evolved into a star as a full-time starter last year (12.2 points, 41.4% from 3) and looks poised for an even better senior year. And on top of all that is junior Zia Cooke, the squad’s leading scorer from last year at 15.9 points a game. This is a deserved No. 1 ranking.
The freshmen: South Carolina signed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for the second time in three years per espnW rankings, with Dawn Staley’s roster adding even more depth. Three of the top-five overall players—point guard Raven Johnson (No. 2), guard Saniya Rivers (No. 3) and forward Sania Feagin (No. 4)—signed on top of guard Bree Hall (No. 14), making for an incredible quartet of five-star talents. The trick for Staley may be figuring out when to plug in the new faces within an already-loaded roster and keeping that balance going throughout the grind of the season.
The transfer: There’s just one addition from the portal, but it’s a big one—literally and figuratively. Syracuse transfer Camilla Cardoso was a monster in the post for the Orange, winning the ACC’s Freshman and Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors with 13.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. The 6-foot-7 Brazilian should undoubtedly take some pressure off Boston in the post and will help to keep the Gamecocks’ rebound margin (14.4, third nationally) and blocks per game (7.0, tied for first) from a year ago at elite levels.
UConn freshman guard Azzi Fudd
Connecticut
AP Top 25 rankings: No. 2
Last year's record: 28-2 overall, lost in NCAA Tournament Final Four to Arizona.
Who's returning: A player with the hype level of Paige Bueckers needs little introduction. The 5-11 guard put up potentially the greatest freshman season in history in 2020-21, winning virtually every award she was eligible for as she took the country by storm. Back for her sophomore year with expectations now through the roof, she and the Huskies are looking for one of the few accolades that alluded her last year: a national championship. The four other starters from the Final Four loss return to try and help her do it, including guard Christyn Williams (an All-Big East first team nod with Bueckers) and 6-foot-5 forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa (the defending co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year).
The freshmen: South Carolina may have nabbed the country’s best recruiting class, but UConn got the nation’s best recruit. Guard Azzi Fudd has already won gold with the U.S. in three different international tournaments on top of being the Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year selected from a field of McDonald’s All-Americans, making her the early favorite for the nation’s top freshman this year. Joining her are two more five-star recruits in guard Caroline Ducharme and forward Amari DeBerry, a fine consolation for not being the top-ranked class for Geno Auriemma’s Huskies.
The transfer: If you’re a program like UConn that reloads yearly onto a team swamped with talent, you can attract the types of transfers like former Ohio State forward Dorka Juhász. A 6-5 grad transfer hailing from Hungary, Juhász averaged a double-double her final year with the Buckeyes, in which she also earned her second straight All-Big Ten first team nod on a team ranked for much of the season. Her 11.1 rebounds per game from last year makes for an imposing presence down low with Nelson-Ododa or 6-3 forward Aaliyah Edwards as Juhász could make a case for the starting lineup with effective play.
Here’s what you need to know about the game -
Site: Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Time: Noon ET
Series: UConn leads, 9-1
Last meeting: No. 2 UConn 63, No. 1 South Carolina 59 (OT), in Storrs, Feb. 8
TV: ESPN (Eric Frede, Carolyn Peck)
Radio: UConn IMG Sports Network on 97.9 ESPN (Bob Joyce, Debbie Fiske) Pregame show begins at 11:30 am.
South Carolina Roster - Head coach Dawn Staley (14th year at SC)
South Carolina Combined Team Statistics (as of Nov 21, 2021) All games
South Carolina Gamecocks Fun Facts
South Carolina probable starters, sixth man:
Destanni Henderson, G, 5-7, Sr.; Zia Cooke, G, 5-9, Jr.; Brea Beal, G, 6-1, Jr.; Aliyah Boston, F, 6-5, Jr.; Victaria Saxton, F, 6-2, Sr.; Laeticia Amihere, F, 6-4, Jr.
UConn Roster - Head coach Geno Auriemma (37thyear)
UConn gameday notes
UConn WBB season stats to dateUConn probable starters
Aaliyah Edwards, F, 6-3, Paige Bueckers, G, 5-11, So.; Christyn Williams, G, 5-11, Sr.; Olivia Nelson-Ododa, F, 6-5, Sr.; Evina Westbrook, G, 6-0, R-Sr.
UConn advances in Battle 4 Atlantis behind Azzi Fudd, Paige Bueckers
Hartford Courant article on today's gameMassey's gameday prediction: South Carolina 69 - UConn 65
#BIGEASTwbb Minute: Notable Wins In 5-1 Sunday
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