The opening two rounds of the Greensboro regional featured just one upset. No. 11-seed Arkansas-Little Rock defeated No. 6 Texas A&M before falling apart down the stretch against No. 3 ASU.
With UALR out of the picture, the Sweet 16 features the top four seeds from the Greensboro region: South Carolina, Florida State, ASU and North Carolina.
No. 1 South Carolina
Who to watch for: freshman guard/forward A’ja Wilson
The versatile rookie averages 20 minutes per game and has only started one of them. Despite this, she is second on the team in scoring (13.3 per game) on 53 percent shooting and brings down 6.8 rebounds per contest.
About the team
South Carolina has been one of the teams to beat all year, finishing the season No. 3 overall in the AP rankings. This is in largely part because of its phenomenal defense. The Gamecocksallow just 52.9 points per game, scoring 76.3 on their own and have won 30 games.They are a very deep team; nine players play at least 14.8 minutes per game and none play more than 30.
No. 2 Florida State
Who to watch for: sophomore guard Leticia Romero
Romero was forced to miss half the season after transferring from Kansas State, but she has made an enormous impact on the court when she gained eligibility. In the first two rounds, she averaged 12.5 points, eight assists and 7.5 rebounds.
About the team
The point of emphasis when playing against FSU is rebounding. Senior guard Promise Amukamara said the Seminoles have not been outrebounded this entire season. On average, they outrebound opponents by almost 13 per game.
ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said that while she doesn’t expect ASU to get 45 rebounds, she wants to keep the tally close.
“I don’t know that we have to outrebound them but we have to hang around,” she said. “We need to have probably our best rebounding effort of the year.”
No. 3 ASU
Who to watch for: sophomore forward Sophie Brunner
One of Brunner’s roles will be defending FSU’s junior centerAdut Bulgak in the post. The center averages team highs in points (12.3) and rebounds (9.7). Brunner will look to keep her scoring low and contain her off the glass.
About the team
ASU doesn’t have a specific go-to player. A game after redshirt junior Katie Hempen elevated the team with five 3s, Brunner was the one to get the team going offensively and junior Elisha Davis nailed the dagger. FSU won’t tire out late like UALR did, but tight press could dampen its energy.
No. 4 North Carolina
Who to watch for: sophomore guard Allisha Gray
The athletic guard leads the team in points with 15.9 and pulls down 7.6 rebounds per game. She also made 174 3-pointers during the regular season. The culmination of this helped the Tar Heels land at No. 15 overall in the AP poll in the regular season and earned All-Region honors.
About the team
North Carolina is adept at keeping opponents’ shooting percentages low. Teams shoot just 37.6 percent on field goals and 28.1 percent from behind the 3-point ark. If the Tar Heels are to defeat South Carolina, they must maintain that intensity and rebound better; only three players pull down more than 4.1 per game.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsmanon Twitter.
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