Undefeated Vanderbilt Faces Motivated South Carolina in Top Five Battle
No. 5/4 Vanderbilt Commodores in Columbia, SC
Another test awaits as the No. 5/4 Vanderbilt Commodores Women’s Basketball team is in Columbia, South Carolina to face the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday. This is major for both teams for different reasons.
To start with South Carolina, the Gamecocks are coming off a Thursday night 94-82 overtime loss to No. 10 Oklahoma and will definitely be motivated to bounce back in front of a home crowd. This will most like be the deepest scoring depth the Dores have faced this season.
South Carolina has five players averaging double digits in scoring and averages 88.3 ppg as a team. Those five are Joyce Edwards (20.2 ppg), Ta’Niya Latson (15.4 ppg), Madina Okot (14.1 ppg), Tessa Johnson (13.6 ppg), and Raven Johnson (10.1 ppg). I am interested to see Vanderbilt’s perimeter defense as Tessa Johnson can get hot.
My keys for a successful day in Vanderbilt’s favor are effective paint play, limit scoring droughts, and of course limit turnovers. The Commodores have been able to weather storms this season and come away victorious, but there will come a time where you really need a complete game or as close to one as you can get, and tomorrow may be that day.
In the paint, the Commodores have obviously played most of their best ball this season when they collectively own the boards and points in the paint. Sounds pretty fundamental, but I am not one for a bunch of fancy talk.
In looking back at the Oklahoma win over South Carolina, they were able to get in the paint regularly. Given it was an overtime game, but OU ran 50 paint points on the Gamecocks and the driving lanes were there. Vanderbilt does a great job at attacking and will look for that, especially with Mikayla Blakes.
South Carolina has controlled the paint overall this season. The Gamecocks are second in the country with 48.3 paint points per game and are outscoring SEC teams in the paint by 11.3 points per game and ranked teams by 7.7 points per game.
Madina Okot stands at 6’6″ and is second in the SEC at 10.7 rebounds per game. The Gamecocks as a team average 41.9 rpg and clean the glass well on the defensive side with 28.1 a game. That tells me that Vanderbilt will have to take a collective approach in my opinion to crash the boards. Physicality will be a must in this game if the Dores want to come out on top.
Sacha Washington is a beast in the paint as well, as we have seen several times this season. When Sacha can go to work in the paint, pull down rebounds, and drop 14 to 18 points, this Commodores offense rolls.
Help from Aiyana Mitchell, Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, and Justine Pissott can swing this game in Vanderbilt’s favor by being able to collectively bring in more chances for the Dores to own a possession.
Speaking of Justine Pissott, she is my big factor in this game. We all know she can hit the three at a high rate, as she is just behind South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson with a 43.9 three point average, but what is often missed is her defensive efforts and help on the boards.
Pissott is third on the team with 16 blocks this season and third in rebounds averaging 4.6 per game.
With South Carolina being a widespread scoring team, it will be important for Vanderbilt to limit their chances as much as possible. The Gamecocks are not a team you want to give extra chances to. That is also where limiting turnovers comes into play. I don’t have to dive into that. It is basic and fundamental.
For Vanderbilt on the offensive side, the shots need to fall. The Commodores have gone on stretches in games this season where scoring took a while to pick up. Coach Ralph has not been worried about that as I have asked a couple of weeks ago, as long as the effort is there.
“I would love to play perfect from start to finish and, you know, make all our shots and get stops every time down the floor. I don’t really worry about it unless I see our energy and effort in a place that I don’t think is helpful,” said Shea Ralph.
The Commodores have four that average in double figures themselves, and while Mikayla Blakes (24.8 ppg) is the one that gets most of the attention, that is where Aubrey Galvan and Justine Pissott have provided the juice to keep things moving as well.
Every undefeated run has those games that test everything. For Vanderbilt, Sunday in Columbia will be another one. The Gamecocks have the depth, the home crowd, and the motivation to bounce back. The Dores have the paint presence, the defensive grit, scoring options, and the confidence of a team that hasn’t lost yet.
Whoever controls the glass, takes care of the ball, and limits the extra possessions will walk away with the win, sounds simple right? Game time is set for 3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM CT and can be seen on ESPN.
Featured Image Credit: Vanderbilt Athletics
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