USC fell 73-60 to UCLA on Wednesday at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Trojans fought valiantly but struggled to keep pace with the Bruins.
USC sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins, who was named Co-Most Improved Player in the Pac-12 on Tuesday, struggled in her return from injury with five points on 0-of-6 shooting and fouled out with 3:34 remaining in the final period.
USC was led by freshman forward Rayah Marshall, who scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
Marshall was named to the All Pac-12 Freshman Team on Tuesday.
“Her potential is limitless,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said, “it’s going to be exciting to see where she can get to.”
Despite Marshall’s success, USC struggled on the offensive end, shooting 36% from the field and 31% from three.
USC failed to take care of the ball, turning the ball over 15 times and only having nine assists as a team in the game.
However, UCLA’s offense didn’t fare much better, shooting 40% from the field and a tepid 19% from three. The Bruins’ ball security was shoddy as well, with eight assists to 14 turnovers.
Bruin graduate forward IImar’I Thomas was one of few who had a superb offensive showing, dominating the paint with 18 points on 57% shooting from the field.
With neither offense scoring with much efficiency or protecting the ball well, the difference came down to points off turnovers and second-chance points.
The Bruins capitalized off Trojan mistakes, scoring 34 points off a combination of second-chance points (19) and points off turnovers (15).
The Bruins were able to get so many second chances due to their superior rebounding, notching 14 offensive rebounds.
They were led on the boards by redshirt freshman forward Angela Dugalić, who had 12 boards (including four offensive) while also adding a season-high 13 points.
The Trojans, on the other hand, had only 11 points off that same combination and couldn’t take advantage of the plethora of UCLA turnovers.
But they refused to go away quietly, not letting UCLA pull away till the fourth quarter.
Graduate forward Jordan Sanders was a big reason for this, driving the Trojan offense in the second half, scoring 13 of her 18 points after intermission.
Entering the fourth quarter, the game was tied after the Trojans erased a seven-point halftime deficit on the strength of their excellent defense and hot shooting from Sanders.
Yet the fourth quarter was where the game fell apart for the Trojans.
They found themselves unable to consistently find the bottom of the net, finishing the quarter going 2-for-16 and scoring 14 points in what would be their final frame of the season.
Inversely, the Bruins had their best offensive quarter of the game, shooting 9-of-15 and hitting two threes in a 27-point quarter that put the game out of reach in the final minutes.
Despite the season-ending loss, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s message to her team was one of beginnings, not endings.
“It’s the start of something for us, not the end of something,” Gottlieb said, “even though it feels like the end right now.”
While USC’s season ends with a record of 12-16 (5-12 in conference play), the players echoed Gottlieb’s sentiments, steeling themselves for their next chance.
“This fire feeling that I’m feeling right now, I hate,” Marshall said. “I actually really really really hate losing, so next time around I’m going to carry this same feeling and take it out on whoever on the other side.”