If Tyasha Harris can keep knocking down jumpers, USC will be tough to stop
Throughout the season, teams have dared South Carolina point guard Tyasha Harris to beat them with her jump shot. In the biggest game of the season, the freshman did.
Harris scored a season-high 16 points in the Elite Eight against Florida State to help USC to its second Final Four appearance in three seasons.
The Indiana native knocked down both of her 3-point attempts as well as a couple of midrange jumpers while proving she can not only be a distributor but can also make big shots.
Harris’ confidence is sky high entering Friday’s semifinal game against Stanford.
“It grew tremendously, especially now that I’m more assertive and aggressive and they trust me more, so it makes me more confident,” she said. “I just had to find my ways to know when to shoot the ball and know when to score and know when to pass.”
Harris added she has always been capable of making jump shots, but it is also important for her to get all of her teammates involved.
“You need a person to pass the ball. We only have one ball for everybody,” she said. “I just took it as facilitating more, but now that I see the defense is lagging off me I’m going to have to shoot the ball so it can open up opportunities for other players.”
Gamecocks All-American A’ja Wilson noticed that once Harris started hitting shots against Florida State, it opened things up for the rest of the team.
“When she’s knocking down shots, you’re going to have to play her,” Wilson said. “We have a healthy balance between our guard and post, and that’s really helping us.”
WILSON GROWING AS LEADER
Wilson has been a leader for South Carolina throughout the season, but she has had to be even more vocal since senior and All-SEC performer Alaina Coates was lost for the year.
Wilson is one of two players who played significant minutes in the 2015 Final Four and has been preaching to her teammates that they do not want to feel the same as USC did in Tampa after losing to Notre Dame in the semifinals.
“I just find the best way I can to communicate with my teammates to make sure that they understand what we have to do,” Wilson said. “At the same time, also kind of like, ‘I’m still your friend. I’m not here to bash you. I’m not trying to be bossy. I just want to lead us to the national championship.’ ”
DEFENSE WILL BE KEY
Stanford doesn’t have a unanimous All-American like the Gamecocks do with Wilson, but what the Cardinals\ have is an offense with a number of players capable of making plays.
The leading scorer for Stanford is Erica McCall, who averages 14.4 points per game, but Brittany McPhee and Karlie Samuelson each average about 13.
Having such a balanced scoring attack makes Stanford tough to defend. The Cardinal have assisted on 80 of their 105 made field goals in the NCAA Tournament.
This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 7:01 PM with the headline "If Tyasha Harris can keep knocking down jumpers, USC will be tough to stop."