WBB: Five Things to Watch - Belmont
SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
South Carolina opens the NCAA Tournament at Charlotte, its home-away-from-home for the weekend, Friday afternoon against Belmont.
1. “It’s unacceptable”
“I think we’re angry at Coach (Mike) Neighbors (Arkansas head coach) for sending them to Coach (Dawn) Staley boot camp for two weeks,” Belmont head coach Bart Brooks said.
He was answering a question on whether the Bruins had learned anything from the Razorbacks’ upset of the Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament. His answer was no, except that he doesn’t expect a similarly lackluster performance after two weeks of being yelled at by Staley. Staley agreed.
“We came up short and we paid for it,” she said.
The message, at least the punishment part, was not lost on the players. Tyasha Harris and Alexis Jennings, seated beside Staley, grimaced at the thought of the tough practices they’ve had to endure.
“Coach Staley put us through mental, physical battles over the past couple of weeks,” Harris said, joined by an anguished laugh from Jennings. “I think that’s going to pay off in the long run.”
Staley made sure that nobody took any short cuts in practice, and made it clear that what happened in Greenville would not be tolerated in Charlotte.
“They were challenged in every drill that we did,” Staley said. “No one likes losing, and if you're taking the same effort and preparation that you did prior to losing, you’re setting yourself up for failure. I wanted to make sure that our players understood that it’s unacceptable to lose as early as we did.”
2. “Dictators”
Based on Thursday’s press conference, it’s easy to guess what Staley’s primary message to her team was, “Be dictators.” Presumably not political dictators, but basketball dictators, who can impose their will on the game. With the exception of the first halves against Mississippi State and Tennessee, South Carolina has allowed opponents to control the flow of the game, especially on offense. It bottomed out against Arkansas, when South Carolina was unable to stop the Arkansas penetration.
“We had no ball pressure,” Staley said. “We weren’t dictators on defense. We allowed people to just drive it down our throats. The adjustments we tried to make didn’t work out.”
Without a go-to scorer, South Carolina is more reliant on its defense to create offense this season. In past season, South Carolina had A’ja Wilson or Tiffany MItchell who it could force the ball to, knowing she could score and create momentum. This year it’s the opposite. South Carolina needs stops to get easy baskets and create momentum.
“I’d like for us to be dictators on defense,” Staley said. “A lot of teams around the country feed off what they can do from an offensive standpoint. That’s great, but if you take our last game, 85 points were not enough points. Usually 85 points are enough points to win a game, but they were not enough because we gave up 95. It was a great offensive game, but that just can’t happen.”
3. Consistency
Aside from being dictators, the other thing Staley wants is consistency. She was asked about how she managed to figure the team out, and she replied, “You’re talking past tense, it’s current.”
Consistency has been an issue all season, whether it is quarter to quarter or game to game. The starting five has been in constant flux, and the rotation has changed with every game. Staley blamed it partly on herself, saying she failed to appreciate how much had changed from the year before. There were five new players (three freshmen and two transfers), two players coming off injuries, and many of the returning players had to adapt to new roles.
“People will rise to the challenge and others would falter a little bit, so it’s always a puzzle you’re trying to figure out,” she said. “We just go with the players that are prepped better for the most current game.”
What frustrates Staley more is the inconsistency within games. South Carolina has struggled to hold onto leads against Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State, and has been plagued by stretches of poor play even in wins.
“If we start clicking at the same time, I do think we can beat anybody,” Staley said. “If we can play 40 (good) minutes or close to 35 minutes in the basketball game. We’ve put a quarter together here, a half together here, maybe 35 minutes. If we can put four quarters together I think we can make a deep run in this tournament, but that’s up to us. We control that aspect of it.
4. Te’a’s Back
Te’a Cooper returned from an ankle injury to play against Mississippi State and Arkansas, but she was clearly not herself. She scored just seven total points and struggled to keep up defensively. She still finished the season as South Carolina’s leading scorer, at 11.6 per game, and toughest perimeter defenders. Cooper got several days off following the tournament, and the rest allowed her to fully recuperate and get her mind right for the tournament.
“Te’a is looking as healthy as she has prior to her injury,” Staley said. “I think she’s in a great place mentally and physically.”
Cooper did her best work against ranked teams, upping her scoring average by 3.5 points and playing great defense on some of the SEC’s best scorers. Belmont may not be a big name opponent, but Cooper has also thrived in March. She averaged 9.8 points in the tournament as a freshman, helping Tennessee to a surprise Elite 8 run.
“Her focus is a lot different when there’s a number in front of a team. How we get her to channel that every single night is a challenge,” Staley said. “I think she’s chomping at the bit to get back to playing in the NCAA Tournament. Whether there’s a number in front of Belmont I don’t think she’ll care.”
5. Scouting the Bruins
Belmont reached the NCAA Tournament by sweeping the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships. (For what it’s worth, OVC member Morehead State made the WNIT and beat Ohio State Wednesday night, again, for what it’s worth.) It is the fourth straight tournament championship for Belmont, who is 65-2 in the last 67 conference games. Belmont was fourth in the country in three-pointers made, which is not a good omen after Arkansas shot 11-of-22 against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament. Belmont managed to lead the OVC in scoring while also finishing second in scoring defense, leading to a whopping +21.1 scoring margin. It shot 48 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three, while holding opponents to 37 percent shooting, all best in the OVC.
The Bruins have the OVC’s second- and third-leading scorers in conference play, Darby Maggard (19.4 points) and Ellie Harmeyer (18.4). They averaged about a point per game less overall, but the duo make Belmont go. Harmeyer also averages 9.0 rebounds per game and Maggard averages 4.3 assists (second on the team). Maggard shoots 41 percent from three and was eighth in the country with 3.4 makes per game. And we haven’t even gotten to point guard Jenny Roy, who was the Tournament MVP, was top 20 in the nation in assists, and was sixth in the OVC rebounding.
Staley repeatedly compared Belmont to Drake, another mid-major team. Drake beat South Carolina 90-85 in overtime in Vancouver early in the season. That loss looked really bad then, but less so over the season as Drake spent most of the season ranked in the top 25.
The Ws
Who: #4 South Carolina vs #13 Belmont
When: Friday, March 22, 1:45 pm
Where: Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC
Watch: ESPN2