South Carolina women’s basketball continues their hunt to be repeated as national champions.
The No. 1 Gamecocks (34-3) will face No. 1 Texas on Friday (ET, 7pm on ESPN) in Final 4, the fifth consecutive trip for Coach Dernstaley’s team.
Friday marks the fourth time South Carolina faces the Longhorns (35-3) this season. Texas defeated the second-seeded TCU on Monday, 58-47 in the Elite Eight Game.
Here’s what you need to know about the rematch ahead of Friday’s Final Four Game:
South Carolina vs Texas Women’s Basketball Series this season
The Gamecocks are 2-1 against Texas this season, with the latest being a 64-45 victory in the SEC Tournament Championship on March 9th. Chloe Kitts scored a team high 15 points and was named tournament MVP.
The Longhorns led a 20-point performance from star sophomore and scorer Madison Booker with a 66-62 victory in Austin on February 9th. She went 22-7 from the field, but 7-7 from the free throw line.
With a 67-50 victory at Columbia on January 12th, South Carolina held Texas to just nine points in the opening quarter. Kitz and Te Hina Paopao each finished with 11 points.
How did Madison Booker play against South Carolina’s defense?
Averaging 16.4 points this season, Booker is primarily a step forward, but is a good security guard. She’s not familiar with Staley’s defense. Brie Hall and Raven Johnson are in charge of defending Booker along with Tessa Johnson from the bench, and the Gamecocks will go to that game again on Friday.
In the SEC Tournament Championship Game, Hall held Booker to zero points until the 1:51 mark in the second quarter. Booker scored three points by the fourth quarter, eventually finishing at 10, making 13 shots attempts from the field.
In three games against South Carolina, Booker went 54-14 (25.9%).
South Carolina is trying to stop the elite eight energy of Kyla Oarcle, Lori Harmon
Junior center Kyla Oldacre was huge in the win and TCU on Monday night, despite playing only nine minutes in the Sweet 16 games against Tennessee on Saturday and scoring zero points.
Against a horned frog, the 6-foot-6 All-Assel finished with nine points, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 15 minutes. She gave South Carolina trouble with the Texas victory, scoring 13 points, but only had two in the conference title game.
She could be an X-factor, especially if the hole is robbing Booker’s shot. As a result, it is up to the kitten and Sania Feegun to prevent the al-a-cle from controlling the paint.
Similarly, starting point guard Lori Harmon can actually advance midrange jumpers, just like Booker. So South Carolina needs to make sure that its defenses aren’t focused on just one shooter game. Harmon scored 13 points in his victory over TCU on Monday.
South Carolina Prediction vs Texas: March Madness Final 4
South Carolina 68, Texas 56: Staley’s team has not yet skyrocketed. This tournament is a motivator to play more fluidly and become productive due to attacks on the bigger stages.
Lulu Kesin covers the South Carolina Athletics from Greenville News and USA Today Network. Email her to lkesin @gannett.com and follow her on X, previously known as Twitter @lulukesin
