Three reasons why No. 5 Vanderbilt must go undefeated at No. 2 South Carolina - and one reason they won't - Yahoo

Vanderbilt, undefeated at 20-0, faced its toughest test yet: a trip to South Carolina.

No. 5 Vanderbilt No.2 Three reasons they're undefeated against South Carolina and one reason they're not

They are 20-0.They are one of two undefeated teams in Division I women's college basketball.They have top-10 wins.

But until one of the traditional giants of the SEC is eliminated, doubt will surround No. 5 Vanderbilt.Are the Commodores a "good story" or are they a great team?

They can confirm their status as genuine contenders on Sunday afternoon.All they have to do is beat No. 2 South Carolina (3 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Specifically, they must beat South Carolina in Columbia.And more importantly, they have to send South Carolina to its second straight loss, as the Gamecocks lost in overtime to No. 16 Oklahoma on Thursday.

Complete this difficult task and there will be no more doubts about the Doors.

Well, can they do it?Here are three reasons to be confident about the Commodores and one reason to worry.

1. The Vandy Mikaela Blakes Show is Net Allynich

Soon after allowing the Gamecock defense to give up 94 points, the most a South Carolina team has given up since 2019, head coach Dawn Staley's team is expected to be ready to play defensively on Sunday afternoon.

That doesn't start with Mikayla Blakes.

The nation's second scorer, Blakes knows he will be under the defensive glass, starting with Raven Johnson marking every move in the back court.Last season, when South Carolina Vandy blew out in Nashville, Blakes was caught 19 points, and seven of them came from loose throw.

However, like wanderer, recently, then Jichigigan then they were able to find a way to win even if blakes was not able to showcase his full scoring repertoire.In this game, fearless freshman Ari Gulves took a bigger role in scoring, scoring a career-high 20 points to help the commodores avoid a Wolverine comeback attempt.

2. The Commodores understand the power of the 3-pointer

The Commodores are the top 3-point shooting team in the SEC, and head coach Shea Ralph encourages his team to take the most 3-pointers per game in the league, and helpfully, they are the team making the most 3-pointers per game in the league.

As a team, the Commodores are shooting a good 36 percent from deepJustin Pissot leads the wayStanding at 6-foot-4, he can make more than seven knocks per game, while shooting at a nearly 44 percent clip.Although less vocal, Jada Brown is also hitting 41 percent of his 3s

Such an analytically focused offensive strategy could allow Vandy to nullify South Carolina's signature interior ownership.The Gamecocks, by contrast, rank 13th in SEC play in three-point attempts.If Vandy makes three-pointers while South Carolina goes for two-pointers, that's a Commodores advantage.

3. The Commodores can also run the possession game

In the chat game, vandbilt is better to be a hei, a south Carolina.

Against SEC opponents, Vandy commits the third-most turnovers (13.7) while committing the most turnovers (19.5).Against SEC foes, South Carolina turns the ball over per game in overtime (14.7) compared to the Commodores;they also force nearly one turnover per game (18.7).

Those one or two extra possessions could prove crucial on Sunday.In particular, by limiting its own turnovers, Vanderbilt can prevent South Carolina from restarting its transition machine.

4. Wendy can be bullied at the tables

While Vanderbilt can take advantage of these positives—Blakes, shooting 3-pointers and scoring more games—there is one big area of ​​concern: the boards.

Here again, South Carolina's loss at Oklahoma is bad for Vanderbilt.The Sooners shut out the Gamecocks in dominant fashion, indicating that possession of the glass will be a top priority for South Carolina on Sunday.

Madina Okot is one of the best tackles in the country, while Joyce Edwards and Agot Maker could also get the trophy.R.Johnson is also an elite defensive wrestler.Their efforts help South Carolina rank second in the SEC in tackles per game at nearly 40 points per contest.

In SEC competition, Vanderbilt averaged just 31.5 boards per game.They were weak on the defensive glass, which could have opened up important offensive rebounds and second scoring chances for South Carolina.With Sacha Washington's continued efforts getting stronger on the offensive glass, the Commodores can expand their possessions. Aggressively, the Gamecocks will prevent their mistakes from turning into turnovers.

On paper, statistics and strategy suggest that the Commodores have a strong chance to prove their staying power.

They can, and will, win anywhere - across the SEC and across the country.

However, South Carolina, with two losses now on their books, still has the intangibles that make it difficult to imagine dropping a second straight game even to a team of the Commodores' quality.