What I got from this game is that Azzi and Sarah can put away a game in two quarters, and they can do it because of the defensive support they get from KK Ash Kayleigh Serah Blanca Allie and Jana. In this game, Ash Blanca and Kayleigh helped slam the door shut on the offensive end, and that is key, and sometimes it's Allie or KK who do this. But it's the defense they provide that makes so much possible.
When I think of the tournament and what can be possible, I draw confidence from Sarah and Azzi's steadiness, but also from the everyday defensive work this entire team consistently provides. They never have an off-day on defense. And that defense is so in sync with itself that it builds the complete team chemistry. And the sign of this is when Geno clears the bench, the first thing that suffers is the defense -- it's still pretty good, but the hard edge disappears For example, Kelis still dazzles with slashes to the rim, but she also doesn't fight through screens and then the closeouts are late. She'll get the hang of this by next season, I suspect, but the difference is still visible.
One side note: Candace in the halftime show was both classy and working at a much higher level than the rest of the team. The side-eye she shot them when they tried to assess Sarah was classic, as well as her cool response to some foolish teasing about the LSU-Tenn game.