Twenty-eight minutes handed in painful succession, two top-10 groups slogging their means via the mud, when a annoyed JuJu Watkins took off towards the basket, determined to lastly see a shot fall. To that time, properly into the third quarter, it had been a nightmarish night time for the USC star. All 11 of her earlier makes an attempt had clanked away or rimmed out or missed altogether, a hunch eerily harking back to the 0-for-10 begin that struck unexpectedly final Sunday.
With expertise up and down the roster, the Trojans have confirmed themselves able to soldiering on with out their star at her greatest. The stakes had been greater, although, up in opposition to No. 8 Ohio State, their first of two top-10 matchups in a row. And USC’s current points on offense, beginning with their sophomore star, didn’t resolve themselves Saturday.
However Watkins, as she’s been wont to do, saved pushing. And with Ohio State reducing USC’s result in simply seven, she drove as soon as once more — and at last watched a bucket fall. The dam broke after that, because the Trojans pulled away for an 84-63 win over Ohio State, notching their third top-10 win of the season.
Watkins would nonetheless end with 17 factors, hitting 5 of her closing 10 from the sphere. However amid her struggles, USC (21-2 general, 11-1 Massive Ten) turned elsewhere to maintain Ohio State at bay.
Kiki Iriafen as soon as once more proved to be a stabilizing pressure, ending with 24 factors and 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Freshman guard Kennedy Smith tallied her personal double-double, her first at USC, with 13 factors and 13 rebounds. And senior Rayah Marshall was a stalwart within the lane once more, blocking 4 pictures and including eight rebounds.
USC guard Kennedy Smith, prime, blocks a shot from Ohio State guard Probability Grey within the first half Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Instances)
With Watkins struggling, all 5 of USC’s starters scored a minimum of eight factors, and 4 completed in double figures.
However in a gritty, bodily effort from the Trojans, their protection and work on the glass dominated the day. USC held Ohio State (20-3, 9-3) to simply 29% capturing, its worst effort from the sphere this season, and dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Buckeyes by a shocking margin of 62-30.
That might suffice Saturday. However with top-ranked UCLA coming to Galen Heart in 5 days, USC nonetheless has some soul-searching to do with its stagnant offense.
USC’s struggles on offense persevered early on. Drives to the basket had been denied. Gimmes across the basket bricked. Errant passes flew out of bounds. Sixteen minutes in, the Trojans had extra turnovers (eight) than discipline objectives (seven).
Nobody seemed extra out of kinds than Watkins, who got here into Saturday’s matchup capturing simply 33% over her previous three video games. She once more discovered herself mired in an early hunch. However for the second time in 4 video games, the halftime buzzer would sound with out Watkins making a single bucket from the sphere.
As the ultimate seconds of the half ticked down, Watkins bought a rebound and took off sprinting towards the basket. However the clock would beat her there. Because the buzzer sounded, she bought tangled and tripped.
USC picked itself again up within the second half, as did Watkins, skating previous one other top-10 staff, with its suffocating protection to thank for it.