South Carolina and Texas face off for a trip to the Final Four.

1. Battle of the Bigs

You don’t have to look hard to identify the game’s most important matchup. That would be arguably the best player in the country, Aliyah Boston, versus Charli Collier, the likely #1 pick in the WNBA draft. Both players are 6-5, and both are the centerpiece of their respective teams.

Boston is averaging 13.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 1.7 assists per game. She has already been named the national player of the year by The Athletic, and she is the only player who is a finalist for both the Naismith Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

“Those are two of the premier players in the country regardless of position,” Vic Schaefer said. “We’ll give (Collier) some good advice on trying to deal with Aliyah because she’s very special.”

Collier is averaging 19.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, and although she doesn’t quite have the same all-around numbers as Boston, everything Texas wants to do revolves around her.

“Aliyah looks forward to challenges, especially people that are her height. What Aliyah needs to do is continue doing what she does. Keep Collier in front of her, make her make tough shots over her, sprint the floor and get deep,” Staley said. “Certainly she’s got to win that battle against Collier.”

As usual when it comes to post players, foul trouble could play a role. Boston picked up two first half fouls against Georgia Tech, but that wasn’t an issue. Collier battled foul trouble in the second round win over UCLA, finishing with just five points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.

2. Elite Pressure

Staley expressed concern that the Gamecocks would be nervous Tuesday. Only LeLe Grissett has played in an Elite Eight game, and she isn’t playing. The Gamecocks have made a habit of slow starts in the tournament, needing a few minutes to catch their breath.

It could be worse Tuesday, Staley said.

“It’s difficult,” she said. “The Elite Eight game is the toughest game. That is the threshold you have to get over to get to the Final Four.”

3. Home Dome

In normal times, Texas would have a definite home court advantage at the Alamodome. But these aren’t normal times: the crowd at the Alamodome is limited to 17% of normal capacity. That comes to about 11,000 people. That’s a decent crowd for a basketball game, but in the enormous, 72,000-seat Alamodome, with two courts and social distancing, it seems much smaller.

Despite the limitations, the Longhorns said they felt the crowd support against Maryland. Schaefer said it was a little bit of payback for SEC Tournament games in the Gamecocks’ backyard in Greenville. Meanwhile, Staley was making plans to limit the advantage.

“We’re going to get on social media and see how many Gamecocks in Texas are in reach that can get to the game and even it out a little bit,” she said.

4. Late nights

South Carolina should be the fresher team Tuesday night. The Gamecocks finished their game around 3:00 pm eastern, while the Longhorns played the late game, and didn’t get back to their hotel until after midnight eastern. The Longhorns also had the more taxing game, and Schaefer ordered ice baths for players, telling them to put away their phones and go to sleep.

Neither team has much depth. South Carolina has been playing a seven-player rotation in the tournament, while Texas has basically gone with six players. Texas’ bench could be even smaller if Audrey Warren is unavailable. Warren, who has a history of concussions, hit her head on the court against Maryland. She left the court in tears and did not return, although she was with her teammates after the game. This came after Warren briefly left the UCLA game after biting her tongue. Warren averages 10.1 points and is Texas second-leading rebounder at 5.0 per game.

5. Scouting the Longhorns

Texas basically surrounds Collier with four guards, with post Lauren Ebo off the bench. South Carolina will have a size advantage, but Texas is used to being the smaller team. The Longhorns make up for their lack of frontcourt size by pressuring the ball, forcing nearly 19 turnovers per game. That’s a scary prospect for South Carolina, which has struggled with turnovers this season, averaging 14.2 per game.

Texas is not a particularly good rebounding team, but like the Gamecocks the Longhorns are very good at getting on the offensive glass for second chance points. The team that can limit the other’s offensive rebounding will be in a good position to win.

Statistically, the numbers for Texas are unimpressive. But the key for Texas is complimentary basketball, and Texas’ turnover margin is top-25 in the country. The defensive gameplan against Maryland began on the offensive end of the court, where the Longhorns slowed the pace to take Maryland out of its offense.

It’s a broken record, but South Carolina will try to get out in transition against Texas. That will prevent Texas from setting its defense, and if South Carolina can turn the game into a track meet, it will help the defense on Collier. Texas averages just 6.0 fast break points per game this season, a number so low it seems like a misprint. South Carolina averages 16.7 fast break points.

“We have to stay as fluid as possible offensively, just take the shots that the defense gives us, don’t over-dribble and don’t over-pass,” Staley said. “The way Texas plays defense, they’re always going to get back in the play. Once we get ahead in the possession we need to stay ahead in the possession.”

South Carolina will miss LeLe Grissett against Texas. The Gamecocks’ speed lineup with one post player and Grissett and Brea Beal at the forward spots would have matched up well with the Longhorns and probably could have sped up the pace of the game. It’s possible Staley could try to get a similar matchup by playing Beal as the lone forward with Destanni Henderson, Zia Cooke, and Destiny Littleton, and a post. Or she could give another look to the small-ball lineup with Eniya Russell and Beal as the forwards, although Staley has made it sound like that lineup is off the table after the poor showing against Mercer.

The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina vs #6 Texas

When: Tuesday, March 30, 7:00 pm eastern

Where: Alamodome (South/Court 2), San Antonio, Texas

Watch: ESPN