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TAMPA, Fla. – The NCAA women's title game has arrived, and both Baylor and Notre Dame are attempting to win a third national championship.
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We asked the group of writers of women's basketball writings on site at Amalie Arena – Andrea Adelson, Charlie Creme and Mechelle Voepel – to discuss what they hoped to see on Sunday (ESPN / ESPN application, at 18 hours, Eastern time).
In our championship game predictions, Adelson chose Baylor for the win, while Creme and Voepel ranked Notre Dame as favorites.
Which face-to-face match are you looking forward to?
Cream: This game is loaded with potentially classic and decisive individual battles. The national championship could rotate any of them. All of my game will be centered on DiDi Richards of Baylor against Arike Ogunbowale of Notre Dame. Richards was the offensive attacker of the Lady Bears in the NCAA tournament, doubling her 13.4 points per game goal average, but her defense against Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon played such an important role in the victory in Baylor's semifinal on Friday.
At 6-foot-1, Richards has the kind of length that could also bother Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale scored 21 points in the second half on Friday, 24 points in the second half against Texas A & M and 11 points in the fourth quarter. Stanford – and Final Four of last year (two winning shots). If Richards manages to maintain his game plan and avoid the problems impossible to pursue Ogunbowale all night, Baylor's chances of victory increase exponentially.
Adelson: Marina Mabrey said she thought the match between Richards and Ogunbowale would improve women's play because of her competitiveness. It will be fascinating to see if the attacking superior or defensive player takes it away.
But let 's not forget what brought Baylor to this point: his presence in the interior. So, the match between Brianna Turner of Notre Dame and Jessica Shepard and Lauren Cox of Baylor and Kalani Brown should also be at the top. Cox and Brown act off Baylor, because no team in the country is the size of a twin. Defensively, they are able to take the players of the opposing team out of their game because they are very tall. Our postal presence is much better than Oregon, so the way the Fighting Irish are working to hold Brown and Cox could be even bigger than the guard game.
Voepel: I love watching players after completing their score with great passing ability, and that's the case of Cox and Shepard. They are both solid 6-foot-4 presences that can get offensives and save their teams from possessions that would otherwise be empty. But both also see the field as guards and pass so well to their teammates and perimeter players. Friday, Cox had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Shepard was 20 and 13; both had seven assists. For the season, Cox has 140 assists and Shepard 124, which makes the top-down matches of their teams very difficult to keep.
What will be the X factor of Sunday?
Cream: Regardless of the match on the front of the stage – Baylor's Brown and Cox or Notre Dame's Turner and Shepard – gets the best of the other, he could decide the game. And big problems could make the difference. Turner's presence on the ground is essential to the defense of Notre Dame. She had two fouls in the first half against UConn and came out of the match. Rookie Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Turner were effective. Imagine what Brown and Cox could do without the 6 foot 3 inch turner blocking their progress. Similarly, if Cox or Brown have to sit down, the biggest advantage of Baylor is gone.
Adelson: If there is a player that we often forget about Baylor, it is Juicy Landrum. She may be the only one not to have a two-digit average, but she has quietly worked to become one of the team's most trusted defensemen. Look how she helped stop Ionescu in the semifinals. When Richards found himself in trouble, Landrum went on to guard Ionescu with equally impressive results. Ionescu scored 0-0 against Landrum as the leading defender.
On paper, Notre Dame has the advantage in score of her guards. Baylor knows that his defense must go beyond the closure of Ogunbowale, and Landrum will be one of the most important keys.
Voepel: I'm going with Jackie Young. Last year she had scored 32 points in the semifinal against UConn and she is still capable of having huge matches. You often hear about a player who is playing a good game quietly, and that's usually what happens with Young. She has a great sense of court and athleticism, but she does everything so well that she sometimes seems less dramatic than she actually is. Then, at other times, you are definitely blown away by what she does. The general consensus is that Young is the best full player of Notre Dame. As much as Ogunbowale demands, Young will also present a challenge to Baylor's defense, which could make all the difference, and that could make the difference to get another Irish national championship.
Who will be the most outstanding player in the Final Four?
Cream: Turner, Shepard, Cox, Brown, Ogunbowale and even Richards have already proven themselves by performing well in the semifinals. No matter which one of them could become the winner with a decisive match for his career on Sunday. But in this kind of context, it's hard to bet against Ogunbowale. Our senior lady became the ultimate player of the moment. No one on the ground will be more confident in a tight match and no one has the ability to clear a bad pass like Ogunbowale. A very memorable first half against UConn is turned into a 23 point masterpiece, while it was important. There is no reason to believe that she can not do it anymore.
Adelson: Charlie is right, it is hard to bet against Ogunbowale, especially since she has been a victim so many times in the clutch. But I chose Baylor to win based on his post-game, so I'll go with Cox. Nothing beats his competitive fire, nor his willingness to do the job, no matter what. Brown could make more headlines because she's physically bigger, but you can say that Cox is the most valuable player on the team. When Cox Bears needs to stop against Oregon, Cox made them. I bet she's doing the same thing against the Irish.
Voepel: Ogunbowale has such a sense for the moment in games, and if it's about making big shots, that's it. But if Shepard gets the numbers on Sunday, and Notre Dame wins, it's hard not to reward her for that honor. Last year, Shepard was a big hit in the national championship game, both with his defense against Teaira McCowan of Mississippi State and 19 points on 8 out of 10 shots. Shepard can influence the game well. regards as a post player. And facing a team as dominant as Baylor, she and Turner will have to play at the level of the most outstanding player.
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