On Sunday, the USC women’s basketball team dominated Rutgers in winning the game 71-39. The Trojans played extremely well on the defensive side of the ball and earned the team a much needed win after only winning three of their last eight.
Tonight the Trojans will look to pick up another conference win facing Northwestern on the road. On Sunday, star freshman guard Jazzy Davidson had an all-around performance with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. She has won Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times this season and is the centerpiece of this team. Senior guard Kara Dunn also delivered a strong performance with 18 points, leading both teams in scoring. She has provided veteran leadership for the Trojans all season.
Northwestern is 2-9 in conference play heading into tonight, making this a must win game for the Trojans because the Wildcats shouldn’t pose too big of a threat.
When asked about the keys to winning the game, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said,“We are so good defensively, so we really don’t want to give them any easy possessions and transition off turnovers.”
Defense is the main strength of the Trojans and that was on full display only allowing 39 points to the Scarlet Knights. Their defensive intensity must remain a key component of the Trojans game if they are to compete in big games.
In the Rutgers game, on the offensive side of the ball, the Trojans struggled a little bit with the zone defense, but eventually found their rhythm in the second half, doing a better job of playing off of each other and sharing the ball.
Coach Gottlieb also noted that Northwestern is another team who likes to play zone and sees it as “a chance for us to grow [in that area].”
The Trojans will conclude their road trip with a game against Illinois on Sunday and then return home to face Indiana on Feb. 12. These next two games are a great opportunity for the team to gain some momentum-building road wins before March.
Similar to the men’s team, the Trojans are projected to make the NCAA tournament at around the 10 seed line. This bracket prediction was made by analyst Autumn Johnson a little over a week ago and could have bumped USC back to an 11 seed or completely out of the tournament with their recent losses. They have seven more regular season games before shifting their focus and efforts to the tournament.