Despite graduate guard McKenzie Forbes nailing a game-tying 3-pointer with 7:36 remaining, USC women’s basketball couldn’t make baskets down the stretch to pull itself ahead of UConn, falling 80-73 Monday night in the Elite Eight in Portland, Oregon.
After Forbes’ three, UConn called a timeout to slow the game down and set up a play to get in front before the Trojans could do it themselves. The timeout worked, as UConn took the lead back and never relinquished it.
Beyond UConn’s inability to miss when the game was on the line, however, the story of the night was USC’s inability to make a basket late. The Trojans (29-6) went on to miss 11 shots in the remaining minutes, including three crucial ones within the final 29 seconds, while the Huskies almost couldn’t miss from the field.
UConn ended the game shooting 48% from the field compared to under 33% for USC.
Redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers, who was the Portland 3 region’s most outstanding player, led UConn with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Nine of her points came after Forbes tied the game.
For USC, freshman guard JuJu Watkins led the way with 29 points, but her shot looked off all night. She shot 9-for-25, just below her season average of 40%. On Monday, many buckets she might usually make fell just short, hitting the front of the rim and bouncing out multiple times.
Both Forbes and head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said guarding the Huskies was a tough task — both in planning and actually doing it.
“If you guard any single action the wrong way — if you try to take a shortcut — they capitalize on it,” Forbes said. “I think they just capitalized off of every one of our mistakes. We battled to the end, but I think they were just the better team today.”
“It’s not easy to gameplan because they’re on the move a lot,” Gottlieb said.
Senior forward Aaliyah Edwards was also tough to guard for the Trojan bigs, as she put up 24 points and made more than 50% of her shots.
Edwards fought strong through Trojan defenders while tossing up halfway hook shots or putting in easy layups on assists from Bueckers and others.
USC held its final lead of the game, 19-17, with 7:52 left in the second quarter, but a 3-pointer by Bueckers gave UConn a lead that it never fully relinquished. At halftime, they were tied at 33 apiece, but the Huskies were in the driver’s seat in the second half.
UConn opened up the second half scoring eight points from three different players before USC could notch one. Watkins credited UConn’s defense with making it difficult to score all night.
In the end, despite UConn’s shallow bench and lack of height, the team’s overall NCAA Tournament experience may have been the deciding factor on Monday.
As a program, UConn has won a Division I-best 11 national championships, all under the guidance of head coach Geno Auriemma, who coached a masterclass of a game against a taller and fresher-legged Trojan squad.
In addition, in 2022, the Huskies reached the national championship with six of the current players on its roster appearing in the title game. Three of those players were healthy Monday night against USC, including Edwards, Bueckers and senior guard Nika Mühl.
Despite the loss, Gottlieb commended her team for its fight and its willingness to prove the doubters wrong all season.
“We did a lot more celebrating than a lot of teams get to do,” Gottlieb said. “We’ve had a lot more joy than sadness, but this one really hurts.”
Watkins said she is excited to get back in the gym in Los Angeles and reflect on the lessons she learned this season and take them into next year.
“Just coming up short, I think that adds a lot of fuel to the fire for the next couple of years,” Watkins said.
Adding to her outstanding first-year campaign, Watkins also broke the freshman all-time scoring record during the second quarter on a statement 3-pointer. But, it was clear she cared less about the record and more about her teammates.
“The record is great, but the moments I’ve gotten to spend with this team have meant everything to me,” a tearful Watkins said postgame.
With seven incoming freshmen and six exiting seniors and graduate students, the Trojans will be a much younger — and completely different — team next season. But Forbes said she’s sure the future of the program is bright with Watkins at the helm.
“She’s selfless; she’s mature; she’s a winner,” Forbes said. “This program couldn’t be in better hands than with her.”