I think that the underlying question/anxiety here is whether UConn can win an NC this year without an All-American center. Given that Sarah is playing the 4 about as well as anyone can expect (and certainly well enough at that position to win an NC), and the guard and wing positions are solidly at an NC-contender level, the question is whether Ice's and Jana's current-year shortcomings are so large as to kill any realistic hope of a 12th NC.
I don't think they are. Who is the Griner-level center in the NCAA this year who is going to grind Ice and Jana into little pieces and stomp on them? I don't see one. Feagin at South Carolina? Betts at UCLA? Iriafen at USC? Sedona Prince at TCU? Reagan Beers at Oklahoma? Westbeld at ND? How many of those players have guards on their team who are skilled enough to get them the ball where they can do damage against Jana and Ice?
I think the teams that are most likely to defeat UConn in the NCAA tournament will do it with the guard play and outside shooting, not with scary in-the-paint offense. That's how UConn got beaten twice this season, by Hidalgo/Miles at ND and by JuJu Watkins at USC. South Carolina also has quality guards that may or may not be able to do the same thing. But I don't see a team that can defeat UConn by overwhelming its interior players.
Has anyone looked at the box score of yesterday's South Carolina - Texas game? Despite losing by 17 points, Texas won the offensive rebounding battle by 20-6 and took 28 more field goal attempts than South Carolina. If Texas had not shot 28% compared to SC's 51%, they probably would have won the game. South Carolina's center, Sonia Feagin, had 9 rebounds and 6 blocks (good) but scored only 8 points and had 4 turnovers. (Texas forced 22 SC turnovers while only turning the ball over 12 times.) That doesn't sound like a player who will leave Ice or Jana in the dust.
