GIJoe

Best of luck to both teams, no injuries.

Way North, up close to the border, in what they call the County. Kenzie is from Southern Maine.

Yep, and SC thrives on the second chance put backs, big part of their game.

I am also from Maine and a huge Kenzie fan. My favorite BB player of all time now.

Cardoso, the SC 6'7" center is an athlete. She often gets downcourt as fast as the guards and forwards when in transition. Pili of Utah was able to exploit her under the rim with her post moves and footwork, so Mack should see some success with her post moves as well. Kenzie is one of the best at keeping her body between the defender and her shooting hand. Mack will have a good game as usual. Watkins and Cardoso average almost 6 blocks a game combined however, so Mack has to be aware. Parrish and Scalia will need help getting open looks, will need to hit contested shots imo. Garzon can create her own shot and get it off against anyone, she has the length and skills. Chloe is bigger than PaoPao and should have success getting looks from range. It's the third and fourth quarters that can be back breakers against SC since they use so many players and keep sending in fresh subs, most of whom are elite HS AA's. SC will try to own the boards, that is one of their missions each game and they are good at it, so IU has to work extra hard boxing out. No team is unbeatable, IU can hang with great effort but i worry they will tire late from all the energy expended.. Hoping for a great game, I hated it when I saw these teams in the same bracket.

I added that because one of the players on the IU roster is very close to a family member. So I have watched all of the IU games the past two seasons. Scalia will be covered by Raven Johnson mostly, who is a blanket defender, she will need to get screens to get some open looks. Raven will be on her tight the whole time and Raven is fast/athletic. IU can hang, but to be perfectly honest, it will be hard work for the 5-7 IU players that see significant minutes. SC will roll with 8-9 players that play 10 minutes or more. They just wear teams down. Hoosiers have a chance, but can't afford an off night shooting like against Oklahoma. I think IU would need to shoot above 45% overall and 40% from three to be in it late. They are capable of that obviously, they lead the nation in three point shooting %. Btw, SC is second in the nation in 3 pt shooting, so Chloe and Sarah need to be locked in defensively on the perimeter as well, especially against PaoPao, who shoots 47% from three. I don’t know that IU has anyone who can guard Fulwiley effectively when she enters, so far nobody can stop her except herself. She would be a 35 minute per game player on most teams, she has per minute stats like Hidalgo and Watkins from her freshman class. She can still be erratic though, esp on her threes.

Another SC fan here dropping in to say hello. I can’t ever remember SC double teaming any player in Coach Staley’s tenure. She never employs that tactic, not even against Clark (that was prob a mistake in hindsight) You might not know of a freshman named Fulwiley, but she is fun to watch and usually puts on a show with a few highlight reel plays each game. She gets about 18 minutes a game but sometimes plays a little more. She is electric. She was the SEC tourney MVP averaging 18 minutes…..watch for her. GL to both teams, I have watched every IU game this year for personal reasons, love the members of that team.