I am in the " it would shock Dawn camp." She knows that South Caroline is by far the superior team. No one can defeat Boston. Although I suspect that Edwards is now better than Dawn or Boston understand. But the players surrounding Boston are also incredible athletes and BB players. And they are deep. Here is a "blind test" for everyone; Would you take the last three players on the South Carolina bench in exchange for the last three players on our bench? Right now? No googling? No research?
I go back and forth on this. It will shock the BY if UConn upsets SCar in February. But it might not shock Dawn. Coaches tend to know every vulnerability of their own team. You’re right about bench depth — there’s no contest there. And yet such a win would be much more about starting fives than benches.
I often think back to the game two years ago. UConn won that day because Paige torched SCar in the second half and especially in OT even though they were weaker everywhere else, and especially in bench depth. Aubrey and Nika were the bench that day, and neither of them were playing like they are now. Aubrey and AE matched up well against Saxton and Amihere, and Liv “held her own” against Boston. But the entire game came down to Paige Evina and Christyn against Henny Cooke and Beal. And Paige simply ran away with the game despite Beal’s best efforts
If UConn won this time around it would be a huge upset. It would also require some meaningful minutes from Ayanna and even Amari. But the core of the effort would have to come from UConn’s much more balanced starting 5+2 this year vs SCar’s really powerful starting 5+2.
In the frontcourt, are AE Dorka Aubrey up to playing on a level with Boston Cardoso Saxton and Amihere? I doubt it, but like last time I think they could “hold their own” if they avoid foul problems.
In the backcourt, however, I think it wouldn’t take an awesome game from Nika Azzi Lou and Caroline to run away with the game. Amihere could certainly be used to defend on the perimeter, but only at a cost to the frontcourt defense. If even two of UConn’s guards have big games, we’d have the upset I’m sure Dawn worries about.
It’s odd to talk this way about the prospects for this game. Over the summer, the BY was full of people convinced UConn couldn’t defeat SCar even with Paige and Ice. I suppose the loss in the NC game was still too fresh to think clearly. But now that we’ve seen how Nika Azzi and Lou can play at their best, and now that Aubrey and Aaliyah have revealed new dimensions to their games, and Dorka looks really good now she’s healthy — even without Paige we’re starting to look formidable again.
But it would be an upset win to be sure.
