NCAAW: South Carolina, Texas meet for a fourth time in the Final Four

“It just means more.”

That’s the mantra trumpeted by the SEC. And it certainly describes the all-SEC Final Four matchup between No. 1 seeds South Carolina and Texas.

Friday night’s Final Four game will be the fourth meeting between the two teams this season—with the Gamecocks claiming two wins over the Longhorns, including in the SEC Tournament championship game—and this one will mean the most.

When the game tips off in Tampa at 7 p.m. ET on Friday (ESPN/ESPN2), here’s three questions that will help decide if the Gamecocks or Longhorns not only will claim SEC bragging rights, but also will be suiting up on Sunday for a chance at the national championship.

1. Can Maddie get the midrange going?

Even when Texas beat South Carolina in Austin in early February, Madison Booker was not her majestic midrange scoring self. She led the Longhorns with 20 points, albeit on 7-for-22 shooting from the field. That 31.8 percent mark was well below her season-long 46.1 percent conversion rate. Yet, it was a significant improvement over the 15.8 percent she shot when the Longhorns lost to the Gamecocks in January—a 3-for-19 day that was compounded by her inability to earn easy points at the free throw line, as she also was just 1-for-2 from the line. The SEC Tournament championship game also saw the SEC Player of the Year struggle to get her shot to fall; she went 4-for-13 from the field, good for just 30.8 percent. And she again got to the line for just two free throws, making one.

Overall, South Carolina was responsible for three of Booker’s seven worst shooting games of the 2024-25 season. While she may have claimed that Bree Hall couldn’t guard her, the stats suggest Hall and the Gamecocks have successfully stymied Booker.

It’s hard to envision Texas winning if Booker again shoots below her standard. It’s especially hard to imagine if she also does not get to the line. In the Longhorns’ lone victory, a 6-for-7 effort from the line buoyed Booker’s scoring impact. Yet, it’s also difficult to see South Carolina allowing anything easy for her.

Although Hall insists the game is not about the head-to-head battle between her and Booker, the player who prevails in this game within the game could significantly influence the ultimate outcome.

2. Who steps up as South Carolina’s scorer?

As Edwin Garcia pointed out when trumpeting South Carolina’s status as the title favorite, the Gamecocks have had a different leading scorer in each of their tournament games. Joyce Edwards had 22 points in the opening round. Hall’s 11 points were the team high against Indiana in the Round of 32. In the Sweet 16, MiLaysia Fulwiley dropped 23 points on Maryland, while Chloe Kitts led the way with 14 points in the Elite Eight win over Duke.

Such balance is a blessing. But it also can become a curse.

When buckets are at a premium in a game’s most pressure-packed moments, Texas knows the ball will be in Booker’s hands, just as UConn will press the Paige Bueckers button and UCLA will prioritize looks for Lauren Betts. South Carolina doesn’t have a surefire fail safe.

Yes, head coach Dawn Staley has a number of capable candidates. Fulwiley, of course, has the potential to be fantastic, although the sophomore guard still has her moments of undisciplined decision making. Kitts increasingly has become a go-to option for the Gamecocks, but she primarily relies on tough drives to the basket. While Edwards has the talent to get the job done, she is not always on the court at critical times due to her lack of experience. Te-Hina Paopao is the team’s best shooter, yet she is not always aggressive enough at hunting her own shots. Sania Feagin has emerged as another alternative, demonstrating deft touch from the midrange but prone to turnovers when doubled.

All those names represent enviable optionality. Or, a concerning lack of clarity.

When South Carolina’s halfcourt offense stalls, the team’s most glaring weakness that has popped up in every tournament game since the first round, the Gamecocks need someone to grab the reins, stepping up to make the assertive offensive plays that push the team to victory.

A favorite candidate? Paopao. The senior guard has emphasized the importance of South Carolina “punching first” and “asserting our dominance.” At Thursday’s Final Four press conference, Swish Appeal correspondent Tremaine Dalton asked Paopao about her leadership, particularly what she demonstrated in the late stages of South Carolina’s Elite Eight win over Duke. Paopao responded:

[Leadership] is super important to me. When your teammates are telling you to shoot the ball, you’ve got to shoot the ball. I felt like I didn’t shoot the ball as much as I needed to [in the first half against Duke], and they just needed me to step up and be there for them, and that’s what I had to do.

By shooting the ball and splashing in jumpers, Paopao will attract the attention of a locked-in Longhorn defense, which can, in turn, create some cracks that will open advantageous opportunities for her teammates.

3. Will the battle of the boards be determinative?

When outlining the three keys to Final Four success for Texas, Josh Felton identified rebounding as an important strength for the Longhorns, noting that the team, in particular, thrives on the offensive glass. Although not as dominant on the boards as in prior seasons, South Carolina also rakes in the rebounds, averaging more total boards per game than Texas.

In the three previous matchups between the teams, the squad that won the rebounding battle won the game. The first game, when South Carolina ran away from an ice-cold Texas in Columbia, featured an absurd 82 boards due to the Longhorns’ shooting struggles, with the Gamecocks grabbing 42 boards to the Longhorns’ 40, despite 20 offensive rebounds by the Longhorns, including 12 from Kyla Oldacre. When Texas won in Austin, snapping South Carolina’s 57-game SEC regular-season winning streak, they triumphed in the war of the boards 42 to 35, led by Booker’s 11 rebounds. Finally, in the SEC Tournament championship game, the Gamecocks edged the Longhorns by two rebounds, 37 to 35, with four of South Carolina’s starters securing at least five rebounds.

So when it comes to these to familiar SEC foes, it seems like the “No rebounds, no rings” mantra will apply. The team that wins the glass will win the game—and a chance at a championship.