Coming off a second quarter momentum shift, No.11 USC women’s basketball (3-1) is turning to face a familiar foe, No. 24 Notre Dame (3-1) Fighting Irish out in South Bend, Indiana. USC is coming off a hard-fought win against Portland while Notre Dame suffered their first loss of the season to No.14 Michigan.
USC is now heading into its third ranked matchup of the season. Notre Dame currently leads in all recent matchups, securing a total of eight wins over the Trojans.
Tuesday’s win against Portland saw an early offensive lull from USC, as the Pilots went on an early run due to a slow offensive start from the Trojans. USC trailed early in the first quarter 14-10, but came alive late in the second to stifle the Pilots. The Trojans came out with a 21-0 lead to widen the score gap, while forcing 13 turnovers from the Pilots.
The win was highlighted by a lights-out performance from freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, who put up 19 points with a career-high nine field goals. Sophomore guard Kennedy Smith dished out a season-high 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in the victory.
“We all kind of follow behind Ken [Kennedy Smith] when she’s heating up the ball and being super aggressive on defense,” Davidson said after the game Tuesday night. “When we’re at our best defensively it kind of leads into our offense.”
Despite the loss to the Wolverines, the Fighting Irish had three players finish in double figures. After former guard Olivia Miles transferred from the program to TCU, Notre Dame has turned to star junior guard Hannah Hidalgo to lead the charge. Hidalgo currently leads her team and the nation with 28.8 points per game, earning ACC Player of the Week twice so far this season. .
Hidalgo also proves to be highly efficient from the free-throw line, with a current average of 85.2%. Senior guard Cassandre Prosper is right behind her, averaging 18.5 points per game with the highest field goal average on the team, shooting 59.5%.
Following closely is senior guard KK Bransford, who is averaging 3.5 points per game and seven rebounds per game.
For USC, the test will be coming off to a stronger start from the onset The Trojans will need to pick up where they left off at the end of Tuesday’s bout - forcing turnovers and scoreless periods on their opponents.
“I thought ultimately, we found more of a rhythm on offense. It started at the defensive end. [We] saw some shots go down, and we’re still a work in progress, but we’ll take it,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We’ll learn from every game and keep moving with a big one on Friday in South Bend.”
The Trojans’ matchup against the Fighting Irish will tip off at 3 p.m.