The Extra Point: Previewing Alabama Women's Basketball vs. No. 1 South Carolina

Alabama will be playing their second top five team in three games when they take on No. 1 South Carolina in Tuscaloosa on Sunday.

The Gamecocks are the defending National Champions, and are still perfect on the year at 20-0, and 8-0 in SEC play. They are lead by Zia Cooke and Aliyah Boston, who both average over 12 points-per-game. 

Alabama will have to try and break down South Carolina's defense, something that the Crimson Tide struggled to do when they played No. 3 LSU last Monday.

With South Carolina averaging about 83 points-per-game and winning games by an average of over 30 points, Alabama should look to slow the game down and limit possessions.

In all of South Carolina's close games this season, they have put up less than 75 points. When they played Mississippi State and only won by seven, they shot the ball poorly, and were only able to score 58 points.

This will be crucial for Alabama, because if they want any chance of winning this game, they need to hold the Gamecocks to under their usual 70-80 points a game. That will start with good defense, and by looking at the LSU game, Alabama was not able to do that against the Tigers.

When Alabama and South Carolina tip-off on Sunday afternoon, Alabama will have to slow the game down as much as possible and make the Gamecocks uncomfortable. If the game is close at halftime, South Carolina might feel the pressure and play worse. 

That is a big if however, but if the Crimson Tide are able to do it with their veteran leadership, anything can happen in that second half.