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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 4523410, member: 1131"] To me it is obvious that the key to the game, and the outcome, is whether UConn can do a reasonable job of clearing its defensive boards. In the NC game last year, UConn's performance in that department was abysmal. The Gamecocks got 21 offensive rebounds vs. UConn's 6; they led in second-chance points by 22-5; and in paint points by a surprisingly small margin of 32-26. When I watched the game months ago, I believe I recall that UConn's first [B]defensive[/B] rebound was pulled down by Evina Westbrook about 8 minutes into the game, after South Carolina had (sometimes after 3 or 4 tries) successfully put back every one of their misses prior to that. UConn's two big players in the game (Liv and Aaliyah) got a total of 4 rebounds (2 each) in the entire game, while Aliyah Boston got 16, despite only scoring 11 points. Paige led UConn with 6 rebounds -- obviously not the way rebounding is supposed to work, although I would not be surprised to see Nika get 6 rebounds on Sunday. On the other side of the scale, Destanni Henderson scored 26 points (9-20 and 3-6 from 3), including quite a few in the first quarter. I doubt that any SC guard will torch UConn on Sunday quite like that. Even so, after getting down 22-8 after Q1, the game was even for the last three quarters -- the Gamecocks actually won the last 30 minutes by 42-41. At one point late in the game, UConn closed the margin to 6 points, but could not sustain the momentum. If the rebounding margin (particularly the offensive rebounding margin) is as lopsided on Sunday as it was in April, the final score will be in favor of SC by 15 to 20 points. But if UConn can keep SC's offensive rebound totals under control, then the game should be close. I am assuming that Aaliyah and Lou play their normal games (at the level of the Villanova game) and not the somnolent games that they had against Providence. [/QUOTE]

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