In what can be only described as a thrilling back-and-forth matchup between the No. 1 seeded Trojans and No. 5 seeded Baylor, USC came out on top 74-70 in Portland, Oregon, and kept its national championship hopes alive.
After one quarter of play, neither side showed many signs of budging, as the Trojans led 18-16. Freshman guard JuJu Watkins and graduate guard McKenzie Forbes scored 15 of USC’s first-quarter points.
Watkins has impressed fans nationwide; however, she spoke about how important Forbes has been to this team’s success.
“She’s like Yoda,” Watkins said. “She’s always just encouraging me and really speaking to me in times when I need it during the games. She’s just a great leader, and I’m just glad to have that type of leadership my first year.”
While Forbes’ leadership is instrumental for the Trojans’ success, head coach Lindsey Gottlieb discussed how important Watkins’ ability to draw defenders is for USC’s offense to work smoothly.
“It’s unbelievable what she handles. You cannot put one person on her; she will score. You can’t really put two; you have to show a lot of bodies,” Gottlieb said. " I think what’s evolved [for Watkins] is seeing the court and understanding where she needs to get the ball and what reads she can make out of that.”
The Trojans went down quickly to a fast-firing Bears offense. However, with well-constructed defense and a more creative offensive scheme—including a Forbes running deep three— the Trojans willed themselves to the lead.
The end to the first half was not much different than the first quarter of play, as the Trojans took as large a lead as 11 with a bit of beautiful passing. However, as they say, basketball is a game of runs, and this proved to be correct, as Baylor out-scored the Trojans 7-2 to close out the quarter. Meanwhile, USC missed six of its last seven shots.
Nonetheless, USC led 37-31 to close out the first half, with Watkins leading all scorers with 15. Marshall was commanding the boards with 11 rebounds.
The Bears picked up right where they left off at the end of the first half, as USC’s lead grew slimmer by the minute. At the media timeout with 2:53 remaining in the third, Baylor had taken its first lead since the middle of the first quarter, 50-49.
Baylor had all the momentum by the end of the quarter, ending the final minute on a 7-0 run, going up 57-53 and out-scoring the Trojans 26-16 in the period.
The fourth quarter was filled with fireworks and drama, as neither team showed signs of giving an edge to the other.
The game came down to the final minute, where USC held a slim lead over Baylor. However, the Bears just kept clawing back.
Watkins was the X-Factor in the fourth quarter, as she was perfect from the free throw line, going 7-for-7.
“She’s just a competitor; I would trust her with my life,” Marshall said in a joking manner. “She’s coming into the huddle after the third quarter fired up saying, ‘Let’s get our shit together.’”
The Trojans held a four-point lead with 23 seconds to play, but Baylor senior guard Sarah Andrews was not going down without a fight, as she banked in a wing 3-pointer to cut the Trojans’ lead to one.
Gottlieb said her team kept itself calm when the game was coming down to the wire.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games and close situations, so I don’t think I’m coaching poise. It was less coaching their mentality and more trying to coach the situation.”
In the end, with clutch free throws from Watkins and Marshall, the Trojans got the win and are still dancing through March into the Elite Eight.
USC takes on No. 3 UConn on Monday, April 1. Time is TBD.