Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie takes a look at the games in the women's Final Four. Her Blue Devils played Stanford, Connecticut and Baylor this season:
CONNECTICUT-BAYLOR:
The biggest problem Baylor has is the Lady Bears haven't played Connecticut yet. You can't be successful against UConn unless you play them regularly and are used to the Huskies' incredible intensity, passing, and the way they attack. You look up at the scoreboard, and the next thing you know, it's 20-2. You have to be extremely concerned about the start of the game.
Connecticut makes incredibly quick decisions, and the game just moves quicker for them. If you're not used to the quickness of their execution, the quickness of their decision-making, you find yourself watching. Any time that starts, a team is done.
It's going to be a lesson for a young Baylor team.
Everyone is talking about the Brittney Griner-Tina Charles matchup, but UConn has so many weapons. Maya Moore, Kalana Greene, Tiffany Hayes. Griner will score and block some shots, but she hasn't played anyone as quick as Charles or who is as polished.
In the Final Four, anything is possible the first 10 minutes because of nerves. But after a 40-minute game, it won't look any different from any game you've seen UConn play this year. This is the greatest women's team ever playing in a Final Four. And the Huskies have been waiting for it all year.
OKLAHOMA-STANFORD:
Oklahoma started peaking at the right time to get back to the Final Four. The Sooners guards are sweet and silky smooth. Danielle Robinson and Nyeshia Stevenson can beat you from a variety of ways.
Look at how they took out Notre Dame and then beat Kentucky.
After dominating the first few rounds, Stanford got a last-second win against Xavier to advance this far. The first 10 minutes will be interesting as you don't know the psyche of the players, whether they feel lucky to be there.
Clearly, Jeanette Pohlen is playing with a lot of confidence after making the coast-to-coast layup for the game-winner.
Oklahoma's guard play will have to trump Stanford's guard play, forcing the Cardinal posts to step outside more. Nobody runs the triangle offense better than Stanford with Jayne Appel, Kayla Pedersen and Nnemkadi Ogwumike. The key will be Amanda Thompson and whether she can effectively deny the Cardinal's high post.
A frustrating low-scoring game would favor Oklahoma as the Sooners are gritty and physical. Still, we saw Stanford pull out a tight game against Xavier. Both teams have players who can step up and hit big shots with the game on the line.
Even though guard play is supposed to win out in the Final Four, this game will probably come down to points in the paint and that favors Stanford. But the athleticism of Oklahoma's guards will give them a chance. Otherwise, it will be the championship game that everyone was expecting at the start of the season.
