WBB: 1 vs 2 Stanford Preview

Who: #1 South Carolina (3-0) @ #2 Stanford (5-0)

Time/TV: 3:00 on ABC. Holly Rowe took a redeye to Palo Alto after being on the sideline for the biggest win in the Shane Beamer era. She's be patrolling the baseline for today's 1 v. 2 showdown.

Line: SC -2. Total 127.5

History: All-time Stanford leads 2-6. All but one of those meeting came during Dawn Staley's tenure. The Gamecocks are 0-2 on the farm. The Gamecocks have won 2 of the last 3 meetings including a Final Four win on their way to their National Championship in 2017. Sunday’s game is the second-straight 1 vs. 2 matchup in the series as the two teams hold the same positions they did in last season’s meeting in Columbia. The higher ranked team has won the previous eight games of this series.

Last Meeting: December 21, 2021. South Carolina 65-61 in Columbia. Destanni Henderson took this game over in the second half as the Gamecocks turned Stanford over 20 times in route to an 18-point comeback win. Henderson had 17 point and Aliyah Boston had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

It starts with Stanford's Mount Rushmore of women's college basketball coach Tara VanDerveer. VanDerveer has been a mentor to Dawn Staley after coaching her in the 1996 Olympics. The Stanford coach called this game a "win-win." Staley echoed that sentiment “It’s a win-win situation for our team, but also for me to be able to watch her, to prep for her, to get in her brain for what she’s going to do."

Stanford lost the Hull twins and Anna Wilson, (Russ' youngest sister), to graduation. They still returned preseason All-American candidates Cameron Brink and Haley Jones (pictured above with Boston- if Staley had landed Jones as well they'd be going for a 3-peat this year). Stanford is hitting 41% of their three point attempts. Starting point guard Hannah Jump is shooting the three at an incredible 58%, she's yet to attempt a free throw.

Sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen is the second leading scorer at 11.8 points per game. Lauren Betts, the No. 1 recruit of the class of 2022 is off to a solid college career. Betts, (6'7), is averaging 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She's a threat on the defense too, as she is second on the team with 10 blocks

South Carolina is 3-0 with an average margin of victory of 49.7 points, while Stanford is 5-0, winning by an average of 46.6 points. The Gamecocks' win over Maryland was better than anyone Stanford has beaten. Today will be there first test.

The Gamecocks are third in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 50.5 percent of their own missed shots.South Carolina averages 20.3 second-chance points per game on 16.7 offensive rebounds per outing but Stanford is probably the only team in the country that can make Carolina's size and depth.

This game is going to come down to how well Carolina protect the ball and shoots the 3.