This story was updated with quotes at 3:54 p.m. PST.
Nothing comes easy in March. This reigned true for the top seeded USC Trojans as the No. 16 seed UNC Greensboro Spartans gave USC a battle at Galen Center to begin the postseason.
It didn’t take long for the Trojans to get the game’s scoring action started as senior center Rayah Marshall banked in a layup through contact and converted at the charity stripe to give USC an early 3-0 lead.
“I thought we were a little bit rusty on offense early,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “That’s a credit to UNCG. They earned their way here and I thought they came out and played with good intensity.”
However, easy baskets like those proved hard to come by for both teams as the Trojans only led by four after the first quarter. During the period, both teams played very physical defense with only one shooting foul called.
“We were really excited to be playing again,” graduate forward Kiki Iriafen said. “I think there was a lot of rust, but a lot of excitement. Our defense really helped us in the first half in terms of staying in the game.”
The Spartans gave USC all they could handle in the first quarter. However, the Trojans did not allow their offensive struggles to dictate their effort on the defensive end. Specifically, freshman guard Kayleigh Heckel made her presence felt on defense as she came up with a block and steal in the first quarter.
Following the Trojans’ slow start offensively, USC was able to create some separation from the Spartans going into halftime. With 5:09 remaining in the half, sophomore guard JuJu Watkins made good on a forced turnover by Marshall with her signature euro step and made a layup to put the Trojans up 10. From there, an 8-1 run to close the first half gave the Trojans an 28-11 lead at the end of the first half.
At halftime, Watkins was flirting with a double-double as she led the Trojans in scoring with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. No other Trojan hit the double figure mark in points as graduate guard Talia von Oelhoffen was the next closest with five points.
Defensively, the Trojans only allowed three made field goals in the first half and came up with six steals and blocks. Marshall was the anchor to USC’s defensive success as she finished the game with seven blocks.
“Rayah is the anchor of our team,” Iriafen said. “There’s no us without Rayah and I think she’s such an unsung hero for this team.”
Both Marshall and Iriafen are critical to USC’s success on defense and in addition to Marshall’s seven blocks, Iriafen was dominant with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double.
USC’s defensive dominance carried into the second half as the Trojans began the period with an 8-0 run. Half of those points were scored by Watkins, who began the half with tape on her left hand after Watkins was seen grabbing it throughout the second quarter.
A hand injury was not the only injury Watkins suffered during the game as she limped to the locker room with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter after twisting her ankle. She returned to the bench shortly after. Freshman guard Kennedy Smith subbed in for Watkins and from that point on, USC was able to close out the quarter on a 10-1 run and entered the fourth with a 53-16 lead.
“It’s the end of the season and my body’s a little banged up,” Watkins said. “It’s on to the next and nobody really cares. I’m all good, don’t worry.”
In Watkins’ absence, it was Heckel making all the plays for the Trojans as she recorded five points and another steal during the final minutes of the quarter. Heckel finished the game with eight points and four steals.
“My teammates are super supportive of me,” Heckel said. “I feel like every time anyone does anything good on the court we’re always hyping them up in any way possible so it’s cool of my teammates to be supportive of me.”
Luckily for the Trojans, Watkins began the fourth quarter on the floor as USC continued to dominate en route to victory. The Trojans closed the game on a 18-9 scoring run and capped off the first round with a 75-21 victory. USC held UNC Greensboro to just seven made field goals and got 17 steals and blocked 10 shots.
“Our defense is something that we really take pride in,” Watkins said. “When things aren’t going our way on one side of the floor, we always try our best to make up for it on the other end.”
USC exceeded expectations last season with a run to the Elite Eight and will look to make it even further this year. With redemption on USC’s mind, the Trojans will need to take it one game at a time as the madness of March continues into the second round on Monday.