What to know about South Carolina’s Sweet 16 opponent Georgia Tech
A potential blockbuster Elite Eight matchup awaits South Carolina women’s basketball in the NCAA tournament, against a Maryland team also considered a national title contender.
But first, the top-seeded Gamecocks have to tangle with No. 5 seed Georgia Tech.
Carolina and GT are set to meet in the Sweet 16 on Sunday in a matchup that will be nationally televised on ABC. And while the Yellow Jackets may not carry a national ranking or a conference championship, they’ve already pulled one major upset in knocking off No. 4 seed West Virginia in the second round.
ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli, who will be on the broadcast Sunday, told The State that Georgia Tech was likely underseeded by the selection committee and capable of causing problems. And while the Jackets had a first-round hiccup, needing overtime to rally past No. 12 seed Stephen F. Austin, they righted the ship against West Virginia en route to an authoritative 73-56 victory.
Leading the way in both contests was Lorela Cubaj, a 6-foot-4 senior forward from Italy. Cubaj, who is averaging a double-double this season with 12.4 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, has recorded double-doubles in both games, tallying 35 points and 24 rebounds. She also averages more than a steal and block per game.
Alongside her, 6-5 sophomore center Nerea Hermosa, from Spain, has had a quiet tourney thus far but has shot 57.3% on the season.
“That front line for Georgia Tech could challenge Aliyah Boston and maybe get her in foul trouble,” Antonelli said. “They’re that kind of big size, both of them. And so, Lorela Cubaj is a 6-foot-4 senior — best screener in the ACC, best rebounder in the ACC ... one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, and she was the best passing big in the ACC. So she averaged three assists a game. So they’re good, and opposite to her is a kid named for Hermosa, who’s 6-foot-5 and big.”
Slowing Boston down would be no small feat. South Carolina’s All-American sophomore forward has taken her game to another level in postseason play, averaging 19.4 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 56.9% from the field, 81.8% from the free-throw line in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
In the second round against Oregon State, it was Boston who was able to create foul trouble for her opponent, not the other way around — the Beavers featured good height in 6-4 Taylor Jones and 6-9 Jelena Mitrovic, but neither could stop Boston from powering through in the low post.
Cubaj and Hermosa, though, have the size to potentially make life more difficult.
“I always joke about those two, like if I needed security, those would be the two that I would hire,” Antonelli said. “They’re big women — strong, athletic, can run, both international players.”
In the backcourt, the Yellow Jackets have yet another international player in 5-7 Finnish guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, a junior who picked up All-ACC honors this year.
“Lahtinen is their guard who can score. She can shoot it, she’s a powerful, thick combo guard. I think she was the Most Improved Player in the ACC. She’s good. She can shoot it,” Antonelli said.
And Georgia Tech’s coach, Nell Fortner, is “completely comfortable in this environment,” Antonelli added — Fortner won conference titles at Purdue and Auburn and coached the U.S. national team to a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. She spent seven years between coaching gigs working as a studio analyst for ESPN, but since her return to the sideline in 2019-20, she’s engineered a quick turnaround and has matched the best NCAA tournament run in program history.
NEXT USC BASKETBALL GAME
What: NCAA tournament Sweet 16
Who: No. 1 seed South Carolina vs. No. 5 seed Georgia Tech
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Watch: ABC
