In its first out-of-state road conference matchup, No. 6 USC women’s basketball suffered a 78-58 defeat at the hands of No. 20 Utah. The Trojans struggled to find their rhythm against the determined Utes, leading to a disappointing upset.
Expectations were high for the Trojans as they entered the game with a backdrop of historical dominance, securing victories in 18 of their last 27 encounters with Utah since the 1977-78 season.
Despite high hopes, early struggles foreshadowed USC’s cold offensive night. A four-minute scoring drought in the first quarter became a recurring theme, as the Utes’ suffocating defense limited the Trojans to a 36% field goal percentage and an even worse 28% from beyond the arc for the game.
“They did some interesting cross matches where they had some post [players] guarding guards and took away some of our space. [Utah] did a good job of not letting us get to space and get in some of our easy, comfortable offensive rhythm,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.
While their defense played tough, the Utes put on an impressive offensive display. Star senior forward Alissa Pili (a former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at USC) led the way, tying her career high with 37 points. Pili drained five of six 3-point attempts and connected on 81% of her shots overall (13-for-16).
“[Pili] is terrific. Obviously if she’s going to go 5-for-6 from three, it changes how you can guard her in any set of coverage,” Gottlieb said. “She’s a one-on-one nightmare in the post and if she’s gonna stretch it to three, it’s nearly impossible to find the right matchup.”
USC clawed back in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to just five points thanks to a nine-point burst from freshman guard JuJu Watkins. However, the Trojans’ momentum stalled in the final four and a half minutes of the period, managing only two points from junior center Clarice Akunwafo and ending the third trailing 61-44.
“We fought and clawed to make it a game, and when that happened I thought they were a veteran, mature and mentally tough team who put a clamp on,” Gottlieb said. “Everytime we got close, they made a big shot, turned us over or got an offensive rebound. I thought they did a really good job when the momentum at all shifted our way; they put their foot on the gas a little bit.”
Despite committing a similar number of turnovers, Utah punished USC by converting them into 27 points. In contrast, USC only managed to score 13 points on Utah turnovers.
“It’s definitely a concern. We’ve been pretty good about taking care of the ball,” Gottlieb said. “I think when it’s a team like Utah where they’re so good on offense, you got no shot if they’re in transition and moving forward, so I thought that was critical.”
USC couldn’t hold their ground inside and was outrebounded 43-34 by the Utes. Utah grabbed 13 offensive boards, giving it second chances that fueled its home-court victory.
The Utes’ offense thrived on teamwork, racking up 19 assists compared to USC’s meager six. Many of these assists came after offensive rebounds, giving the Utes second chances to attack the basket and break down the Trojans’ defense.
“I thought they beat us in every way tonight. I thought they were better offensively, I thought they were better defensively, they got some key offensive rebounds,” Gottlieb said.
Watkins, the No. 2 scorer in the nation, led USC’s offense with 26 points on 50% efficiency but only connected on one of eight attempts from 3-point range. The Trojans couldn’t recover from the deficit as the final buzzer echoed, dropping the first of two road games in three days.
USC will have a chance to prove itself against No. 3 Colorado in Boulder on Sunday at 12 p.m. PST.