NCAAW: Freshman Blanca Quiñonez might make UConn unstoppable

Friday night brings a pair of tantalizing top-25 women’s college basketball matchups.

First, No. 11 USC visits No. 24 Notre Dame in South Bend at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN). Then, No. 6 Michigan and No. 1 UConn meet at Mohegan Sun Arena for the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at 8 p.m. ET (FOX).

Although the outcomes of the two contests are important, so is what the games will reveal about ultimate, season-long upsides of all four teams. Here’s a question that the Trojans, Irish, Wolverines and Huskies can begin to answer with their performances on Friday night:

How much offensive consistency does USC need from Kennedy Smith?

As both Josh Felton and Edwin Garcia have documented, the JuJu Watkins-less Trojans are establishing a new identity. Aggressive defense, with just enough emergent offensive star power from freshman Jazzy Davidson, has helped USC outpace expectations in the early going.

But to sustain their success, the Trojans need more from Kennedy Smith on the offensive end.

While Smith, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, is an additive element of USC’s defense-first identity who reliably applies her elite athleticism to make disruptive, hustle plays—look for her to pester Hannah Hidalgo on Friday night—she’s been too inefficient as offensive player, shooting less than 32 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from 3 as she’s scored 11.5 points per game. As she is logging over 30 minutes per game, the Trojans need her to be more of a threat; otherwise, defenses will direct more attention to Davidson, making things more difficult for the freshman.

Smith has shown an ability to take defenders off the dribble and get to the rim, but she seems to lack the touch and composure required to finish consistently around the basket. Possibly, continuing to attack aggressively, but with the goal of drawing contact rather than evading it, would be the best approach for Smith, as she is, encouragingly, shooting almost 89 percent from the free throw line.

Regardless of how, Smith has to show that she can positively contribute to the Trojan offense, beginning on Friday night.

What happens for Notre Dame when Hannah Hidalgo doesn’t have it?

For the Irish, everything orbits around Hannah Hidalgo.

Against overmatched opponents, a Hidalgo-centric system guarantees big wins and silly stats. But as Notre Dame’s blowout loss to Michigan revealed, opponents that have the defensive talent and discipline required to frustrate Hidalgo can totally gum up the Irish scoring attack. And as the loss to the Wolverines further showed, trying to escape that offensive stickiness by having Hidalgo put her head down and force things even harder is not a solution.

The matchup against the Trojans, a long, athletic defensive team, presents an opportunity for the Irish to experiment.

The attention on Hidalgo will result in other players seeing open 3-point opportunities, and if they hit them, the Notre Dame offense likely will look pretty good. Yet, Notre Dame is shooting 27.5 percent from 3 as a team, with only senior forward Gisela Sanchez shooting better than 33.3 percent from 3. Her 50 percent mark also comes on a small sample of 5-for-10. Can Notre Dame begin to design something more dynamic, such as running secondary actions off Hidalgo’s passes that test the opposing defense more than shots from mostly unthreatening shooters?

To protect their home court on Friday night, the Irish will need a lot of Hidalgo. But they also need to begin to prove that they’re more than Hidalgo.

Can Te’Yala Delfosse make Michigan a true top-10 threat?

With a talented trio of sophomore guards in Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway, Michigan is capable of competing with any team in the country, including UConn. But to beat any team in the country, especially the defending champs, the Wolverines could use an extra, dangerous dose of dynamism.

Can 6-foot-3 sophomore wing Te’Yala Delfosse deliver it?

After seeing limited minutes as a freshman due to some undisclosed lingering injuries, Delfosse has started to make a head-turning impact as an off-the-bench energy booster for the Wolverines. Playing almost 18 minutes per game, she’s tied for the team-lead in rebounds with 5.3 a contest.

Her scoring juice, however, is most intriguing, as she has put in an efficient 10.3 points per game, shooting over 55 percent on 2-pointers and 66.7 percent on 3s, plus 90 percent on her 2.5 free throws per game. Those sterling marks are unsustainable, but even with a slight drop off, Delfosse’s combination of athleticism, activity and efficiency will still enhance the Wolverines on both ends.

Head coach Kim Barnes Arico recognizes her game-changing potential, saying before the season, “Te’Yala is just different. She can do things that I don’t think very many people can do. Every time I watch her I feel like I’m watching a highlight reel.”

If the Wolverines are to upset the Huskies, expect Delfosse to feature prominently in that highlight reel.

Does an unleashed Blanca Quiñonez make UConn unbeatable?

But if we’re talking about a player who can provide a dangerous dose of extra dynamism, there might not be one who fits that description better than Blanca Quiñonez.

After missing the first two games of the season due to injury, the 6-foot-2 freshman forward received her first action in UConn’s rout of Loyola-Chicago, compiling a modest-but-encouraging statline of five points, three assists, two steals and a rebound in 14 minutes. Against Ohio State, another Husky domination, Quiñonez announced her arrival, with 18 points, four rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block in 23 minutes. She exploded to the basket, looking unstoppable on her off-the-dribble drives. That athleticism was complemented by a sweet shooting touch, as she was 2-for-3 from long range and hit both her free throws.

The potential of Quiñonez is palpable. If she consistently can harness it all in a manner that often is rare for a freshman, thus earning the trust head coach Geno Auriemma, Quiñonez can take the Huskies to an even higher level, one that Michigan will not be able to match on Friday night—and one that no opponent will be able to over the course of the season.