Who: #1 South Carolina (22-0) at #5 Connecticut (21-2) XL Center, Hartford, CT

Time/TV: 12:00 on FOX

Line: SC -5.5 Total 130

History: UConn leads 9-3. The Gamecocks have won three of the last four meetings with the Huskies. The Gamecocks suffocated the Huskies in the Bahamas back in November of 2021, winning 73-57. South Carolina's current team is afforded few chances to make history, but this Sunday will be present an opportunity. The Gamecocks have never beaten UConn in the Huskies home state, losing all five meetings. The last meeting in the Constitution State was in 2021, where UConn emerged victorious in overtime 63-59. Two of the five previous contests saw South Carolina lose their #1 ranking after failing to the Huskies.

Last Meeting: No one should need reminding. April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. Carolina 64-49. It was South Carolina's second National Championship (and third season being ranked #1 after the last game was played). Dentanni Henderson had her way with the Husky defense scoring 26 points. Aliyah Boston recorded another double-double with 11 points and game-high 16 rebounds. The Gamecocks completely dominated the glass doubling up UConn 49-24. Carolina came out of the gates firing and led 22-8 after the first quarter. I'll never forgot Holly Rowe's cut-in interview with a shell-shocked Geno Auriemma. (see below at about the 16:25 mark).

Let's start first by pointing out who won't be in uniform on Sunday. (Unless Geno is being incredibly coy with the media). Azia Fudd and Carolina Ducharme will both likely be sidelined on Sunday. Paige Bueckers has been sidelined all season with a knee injury. Fudd was UConn's leading scorer with 17.9 points per game prior to her injury. Ducharme is a 6'2 guard that was averaging 8.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. Auriemma has eight healthy bodies and will likely not do much substituting. This favors South Carolina as Dawn Staley is comfortable using up to eleven different players on her roster.

One Husky that wasn't present during the 2022 National Championship game that will be on Sunday is 6'5 Dorka Juhasz. The Hungarian center struggled against Boston the Bahamas last season scoring two points and committing five turnovers. The graduate senior is having a strong final campaign averaging 15 points and 10.4 boards a game. Joining Juhasz in the Huskies front court is Aaliyah Edwards. The Canadian junior forward is averaging a team high, (minus Fudd), 16.8 points per game, while also chipping in 8.9 rebounds. Edwards has been the Huskies' MVP thus far on the season. Like Staley, Auriemma is not a coach that looks to build his team out of the transfer portal but will add a piece if the right player is available. That piece was Lou Lopez Senechal. Senechal played four season at Fairfield, leading the Stags in scoring each season. With Fudd and Bueckers sidelined, the 6'1 Senechal is the Huskies best shooter, hitting on 47% of her three point attempts. This is likely to be the Brea Beal assignment.

Other Huskies that should see plenty of court time are Nika Muhl, (6.9 points and 4.2 rebounds), Aubrey Griffin (13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds), and the Hoop Gurlz #4 ranked prospect for the 2022 class, Ayanna Patterson (2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds). Muhl and Griffin also led the Huskies in steals with 34 and 32 respectfully. Griffin is redshirt junior that missed last season with injuries.

UConn is good, but they aren't the beast that they would have been if their star guards weren't injured. With a healthy Fudd and Bueckers, the Huskies would have been the biggest threat to South Carolina's repeat hopes. UConn is currently #2 in the NET Rankings and will be the stiffest test the Gamecocks have faced since Stanford. UConn has not lost at home this season. Their two defeats were on the road at Notre Dame and Maryland in December. Auriemma's club has an impressive list of wins under on their resume beating Texas, NC State, Duke, Iowa, Florida State, Creighton, Tennessee, and Villanova. All teams that have been ranked at one point this season. Thus far, Maryland is the only common opponent for the Gamecocks and Huskies. UConn lost in College Park 85-78, whereas the Gamecock handled the Terps 81-56 on their home court. Maryland was without their leading scorer Diamond Miller for the Carolina game.

Points Per Game:

Carolina 82.3 (9th) - UConn 80.2 (13th)

Field Goal %:

Carolina 47.1 (12th) - UConn 52% (1st)

3PT %

Carolina 31% (165th) - UConn 40.2% (2nd)

Free Throw Attempts

Carolina 22.5 (14th) - UConn 16.96 (160th)

Rebounding Margin

Carolina 21.9 (1st) - UConn 12 (5th)

Assist to Turnover Ratio

Carolina 1.27 (13th) - UConn 1.22 (23rd)

Blocks

Carolina 9.7 (1st) - UConn 3.9 (81st)

FG % Defense

Carolina 29% (1st) - UConn 34.9 (10th)

Scoring Defense

Carolina 46.0 (1st) - UConn 58.6 (57th)

Steals

Carolina 8 ppg (165th) - UConn 7 ppg (240th)

Sunday will be the most difficult road environment of the season. The game sold out 26 days before tip off. The XL Center holds 15,564 and UConn has announced that this game will be a "white out". The Gamecocks haven't lost a true road game since December of 2021 at Missouri. This is also Carolina's first ranked matchup since their home win over UCLA in December. UConn is also the best shooting team the Gamecocks have seen all year with five players averaging 50% from the field.

Last season, UConn struggled with Destanni Henderson. Henderson scored 26 in the championship game and 15 in the Bahamas. She also frustrated UConn's guards with 6 steals in the Bahamas game. Someone, a combined of somebodies, will need to step up and give Carolina that type of production. Raven Johnson should be able to disrupt the Husky guards. Zia Cooke, Bree Hall, and Brea Beal will need to be able to hit some early jump shots to keep UConn from packing the lane. If the Gamecocks can get Boston isolated on the Husky post players, she could draw some fouls. Connecticut's biggest flaw is they lack depth.

If the Gamecocks can keep Lopez Senechal from draining 3's and get some early fouls on Edwards, they should win this game comfortably. Conversely, if the Gamecocks can keep this game close going into the 4th quarter, their superior depth and size should wear the Huskies down. We expect this one to be close, but without Fudd and Ducharme, the Huskies don't have the horses.