This article was updated with quotes on February 9 at 12:25 p.m.
In a sold-out arena, freshman guard Jazzy Davidson shone for USC offensively as she posted a career high 27 points, with eight rebounds and shooting 11-for-24 from the field.USC women’s basketball (15-9, 7-6) closed out its Illinois-state road trip with another win over the Fighting Illini (16-8, 6-7), extending their current win streak to four. The win comes off Thursday’s dominant performance at Northwestern.
Sophomore guard Kennedy Smith followed closely behind Davidson, garnering 20 points, seven rebounds and a career-best six blocks. Senior guard Kara Dunn also notched 16 points.
“Jazzy and Kennedy, there’s probably not enough words to say just how they controlled the game on both ends of the floor,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said postgame. “Just filling up the stat sheet from assists to blocks and points, just making the right plays.”
The Trojans got to another hot start early on, with an early 9-0 run highlighted by two layups and a 3-pointer from Smith. USC held Illinois to a scoreless three minutes and tabbed an early three blocks to keep the Illini from scoring whilst maintaining their lead.
Davidson dished out four assists and eight points in the first quarter to help surge USC to a 28-13 lead.
USC’s prominent defense was on full display throughout the match, as the team recorded 40 rebounds, eight blocks and 18 points off turnovers while holding Illinois to shooting just 39% overall from the field. However, the Trojans gave up 15 turnovers of their own in comparison to Illinois’ 13.
In the second quarter USC maintained a 10 point lead, fending off any chance of the Illini coming back. The Trojans were able to hold Illinois to scoring only 10 points throughout the quarter. Sophomore guard/forward Dayana Mendes made an impact during the quarter with aggressive rebounding and scored her own 3-pointer to add to Davidson’s and Smith’s offensive runs.
The season-long battle for the starting forward position continued on, as redshirt freshman forward Laura Williams earned just her third official start. While sophomore forward Vivian Iwuchuku and junior forward Gerda Raulušaityte also saw the court, Williams would be the most productive forward with six points, 3-for-5 shooting overall.
Coming out of half, USC picked up right where it left off with a 6-0 scoring run. While a challenge late in the quarter provided some hope for Illinois to take the possession from the Trojans, the Illini were never able to take advantage. USC ball movement allowed for Williams and Dunn to score four more points whilst Illinois inched towards foul trouble. Overall, the Illini garnered 17 fouls to USC’s 13.
However, the Illini decided that they would not go down without a fight. Late in the fourth, Illinois began to go on a run of its own following a 10 second violation on Davidson. Junior guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger went on a mini run for the Illini, scoring two layups while freshman forward Cearah Parchment added three of her own.
Despite a layup attempt from Wallace with just two seconds remaining, Illinois’ comeback wasn’t enough to catch up to the Trojans, as USC secured the 70-62 win whilst never forfeiting their lead. Following the win, the Trojans moved to ninth in Big Ten conference standings.
“We knew it was going to be a big challenge. I’m just really proud of our growth,” Gottlieb said. “We got a really good collective team effort to get a tough win on the road that was really meaningful for us.”
As USC inches towards the last stretch of the season and March Madness looms over, the Trojans will have opportunities to secure more statement wins to end the season. USC still has to face conference opponent No. 9 Ohio State and crosstown foe No. 2 UCLA before the regular season ends.
USC returns to Galen Center to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday at 7 p.m.