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WBB: "Show"-time

No. 1 Connecticut visits No. 2 South Carolina Monday night. The game is sold out, and a record 18,000 fans are expected to watch as South Carolina's 45-game home winning streak is on the line.

It's the game of the year in women's college basketball. It's the two best teams in the nation, both undefeated. It's the upstart, the newcomer to this stage who is so talented and intimidating they nicknamed themselves "The Show," trying to knock off the dynastic champion who embarrassed the upstarts at their place last season. Despite coming a day after the Super Bowl, it still has all the weight of the ESPN hype-machine behind it.

It's also a meaningless game.

So how do the Gamecocks balance the former with the latter? Don't misunderstand. The Gamecocks want to beat the Huskies. They want to entertain the sellout crowd and send them home with a victory. They want to prove that they are on the Huskies' level, which is whatever comes above the "elite" level the Gamecocks have already obtained.

But there are no rings for beating Connecticut. No banners to hang at Colonial Life Arena. In fact, the true value in this game may be as a dry run should South Carolina and Connecticut play again in the NCAA Tournament, a game that would almost certainly come in the Final Four.

"If given the choice between Monday and April, I'll take April," USC head coach Dawn Staley said, when asked how much she wants to beat Connecticut.

Two weeks ago the national media started showing up in Columbia. The questions from ESPN reporters trying to goose the ratings followed. Then it started from the local media. An extra reporter or photographer, attending a game not to cover the game, but to start working on Connecticut stories (in the past, these reporters always betrayed their inexperience by asking about "Alisha Welsh").

Meanwhile the Gamecocks kept plugging along dispatching one ranked foe after another. A rout of No. 20 Missouri was followed by an 11-point win at No. 9 Kentucky and then a wild home win over No. 11 Texas A&M. Then on consecutive Sundays, the Gamecocks earned tough road wins over the tenth-ranked team, first Mississippi State and then Texas A&M again. Then came another win over Kentucky, now No. 18. Before that game, I asked Staley if thoughts of Connecticut had started to creep in the locker-room yet.

"I think it's creeping into everybody else's mind," Staley said. "If you let anything besides Kentucky seep in, it can spoil our season for all the work that we've done to be undefeated."

After the 78-68 win, the postgame press conference was peppered with questions about Connecticut. Finally, someone asked Staley, "Have you heard UConn mentioned one time in the locker-room or in practice?"

"I have yet to hear UConn mentioned once," she said, slowly and emphatically.

"We've been taking it one game at a time," Khadijah Sessions said. "We just started looking at UConn (Friday). Coach has done a great job of keeping us focused on the next game, and the next game is UConn."

But starting on Friday, the focus has been squarely on Connecticut. Staley knows how important the game is for women's basketball and for her program. She knows the importance of going along with the ESPN hype, even when the hype doesn't match the reality.

Make no mistake, Staley wants to beat Connecticut. The players want to beat Connecticut. The fans, including many from other teams, want to see South Carolina beat Connecticut.

"It would be great to do it here in front of our crowd," Staley said.

"We want to be number one," Sessions said. "And they're number one."

"Everybody kinda gets that extra 'oomph' when it's one versus two," A'ja Wilson said. "I would like to go undefeated and have that home winning streak."

Tiffany Mitchell who suffered a bad fall against Kentucky that felt "pretty terrible," said she wouldn't miss this game.

"They've been at the top for a while now, so there's a lot riding on this game," she said.

Connecticut is the measuring stick by which all other programs are evaluated. The game between the two teams last season was never competitive, with Connecticut cruising to an 87-62 win in Storrs. Connecticut might be even better this season, so it would be a tremendous upset for South Carolina to win. That is perhaps the main reason the game is meaningless. If, by some chance, Staley has figured out the magic formula for beating the Huskies, she won't show her hand in February.

"If I had the secret I'd give it to every other opponent of UConn," Staley joked.

And yet, while the confetti is being swept up in Santa Clara, California, the eyes of the sports world will turn to Columbia, South Carolina. Colonial Life Arena, Gamecock nation, and the University of South Carolina will have a chance to show what Gamecock women's basketball is about.

"It's pretty special," Staley said. "No one could have imagined eight years ago that we'd be right here on the center stage of college women's basketball."


Game Information

Who: #1 UConn at #2 South Carolina

When: Monday, February 8, 7:00pm

Where: Colonial Life Arena

The game is sold out.


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