In Gamecocks’ Elite Eight matchup with Texas, potential top WNBA picks to battle
When South Carolina women’s basketball faces off against Texas on Tuesday in the NCAA tournament, with a Final Four berth on the line, lots of attention will be paid to the people on the bench.
That’s understandable — USC’s Dawn Staley and UT’s Vic Schaefer developed an intense rivalry back when Schaefer coached Mississippi State, with both coaches building their programs up from the very bottom of the SEC standings to the top of the national rankings. Now, as the they go head-to-head once more, the chess match between them will be consequential.
But on the court, another epic matchup will take place, between two players each considered a potential No. 1 overall draft pick in the WNBA. For Texas, that’s junior Charli Collier, who’s already declared for the 2021 draft. For South Carolina, it’s sophomore Aliyah Boston, who’s still a ways off from the 2023 draft but started drawing buzz about her professional potential even as a freshman.
Both women are 6-foot-5 players most dominant in the low post. Both were top-five recruits out of high school who turned down the chance to play at UConn. And both are double-double machines — Collier is tied for second nationally this season with 19, while Boston is tied for sixth with 16.
Boston, a finalist for every major national player of the year award, is averaging 13.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Collier, a second-team AP All-American, is averaging 19.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest. So when they go head-to-head Tuesday, it will perhaps be the most important single matchup of the game.
“It is a tough one,” Staley said. “I think Aliyah looks forward to challenges, especially with people that are her height. I think what Aliyah has to do is just continue doing what she does — Keep Collier in front of her, make her make tough shots over her, spread the floor, get deep post-ups. At this stage of the game, you can’t do anything different than what you’ve already done. You know, if Aliyah is able to just do what she’s done for us all season long, we’ve ended up winning those battles. But certainly, she’s got to win that battle against Collier.”
Boston has faced other great post players this season. Against N.C. State and All-American Elissa Cunane, who also stands 6-foot-5, she had nine points and nine rebounds while shooting just 28.6%. She did, however, manage to limit Cunane to just 14 points off 23.1% shooting and six rebounds.
Against UConn and all-conference player Olivia Nelson Ododa, Boston was up to 17 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, while Nelson Ododa had a quiet six points, seven rebounds and one block. And against All-SEC post Jenna Staiti of Georgia in the conference tournament, Boston was overpowering with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks while also getting Staiti in foul trouble.
The question of fouls is likely to loom large over this matchup, as well. Both Collier and Boston rank in the bottom 40% of players nationally in foul rate, per Her Hoop Stats. But while Boston has thus far managed to avoid fouling out in a single game this season, topping out at four fouls on 10 occasions, Collier has been disqualified seven times.
On top of that, both their coaches have histories of mentoring and relying on great post players — Staley with A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates, Schaefer with Teaira McCowan at Mississippi State. All that knowledge will prove useful going into Tuesday.
“Those are two of the premier players in the country, regardless of position,” Schaefer said. “And I’m glad I’ve got Charli on my team, and we’ll give her some good advice on trying to deal with Aliyah, because she’s obviously very special and she’s hard to deal with. I know Charli will be be excited about the challenge. And, you know, we’ll make sure that we do everything we can to put her in a position to be successful, just as I know Dawn will with Aliyah.”
NEXT USC BASKETBALL GAME
What: NCAA tournament Elite Eight
Who: No. 1 seed South Carolina vs. No. 6 seed Texas
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Watch: ESPN
