After pulling off a statement win over No. 10 Iowa, USC women’s basketball came into Sunday’s matchup against Rutgers riding as high as they have all season.
But for the first 10 minutes, that momentum hit a speed bump. The Trojans trailed by three at the end of the first quarter, and for a brief moment, it looked like they might be in for a letdown against a Rutgers team sitting at the bottom of the Big Ten standings.
That feeling didn’t last long.
USC quickly reminded everyone - including themselves - that despite the ups and downs of this season, this is still a team with real talent and real bite. The Trojans flipped the switch in the second quarter and never looked back, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 59-24 over the final 30 minutes and cruising to a 71-39 win.
That 32-point margin marked their most dominant Big Ten victory to date, surpassing the 26-point win over Purdue back on Jan. 18.
And defensively, it was their stingiest effort of the conference slate, holding Rutgers to just 39 points.
“Great weekend for us. Really excited to build from here,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said postgame. “I thought we didn’t have our A-game offensively tonight, but we definitely had our A-game with toughness.”
Winning Ugly - and Owning the Boards
It wasn’t a pretty offensive performance by any stretch. USC shot just 36% from the field, went 8-of-33 from beyond the arc, and left points on the table with a 59% clip from the free-throw line. But what they lacked in shooting touch, they made up for in grit - especially on the glass.
The Trojans dominated the rebounding battle, pulling down a season-high 57 boards compared to Rutgers’ 32. Seven different USC players grabbed at least four rebounds, led by redshirt freshman forward Laura Williams, who posted a career-best 11 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
“We didn’t shoot it great, so there were a lot of opportunities [for rebounds], and they were in a zone, so there’s nobody really boxing you out,” Gottlieb explained. “Of course, we’d love to win shooting 50-some percent and having it be really pretty and clean, but that’s not women’s basketball.”
Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson added nine rebounds of her own, narrowly missing what would’ve been her fourth double-double of the season. Even on an off shooting night - 6-for-17 from the floor and 0-for-5 from three - Davidson still poured in 16 points, extending her streak of double-digit scoring games to 19.
Senior guard Kara Dunn led all scorers with 18 points. While that snapped her streak of seven straight 20-point games, she’s now led USC in scoring for nine consecutive contests - a testament to her consistency and leadership on the offensive end.
Defense Sets the Tone
If USC’s offense was uneven, their defense was anything but. The Trojans locked in and suffocated Rutgers from the second quarter on, holding the Scarlet Knights to just 14-of-58 shooting (24.1%) - the second-lowest field-goal percentage USC has allowed all season. Rutgers also went just 3-of-19 from deep, struggling to find any rhythm against USC’s pressure.
A big boost came from junior guard Malia Samuels, who returned to the lineup after missing the Iowa game with an undisclosed injury. Though she played just 17 minutes - her lightest workload in nearly two months - Samuels made her presence felt with 7 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a strong defensive showing.
“I just got a text from someone with [USC] football who said, ‘If we had had Malia, we would have gone to the College Football Playoff,’” Gottlieb joked. “[She] gave us a huge spark.”
USC’s defensive intensity translated into points, too. While both teams turned the ball over at similar rates, the Trojans capitalized far more efficiently, doubling up Rutgers in points off turnovers.
Just as importantly, USC played a clean game from a discipline standpoint, committing only 13 fouls to Rutgers’ 22. Sophomore forward Vivian Iwuchukwu and junior forward Gerda Raulušaityte accounted for seven of those fouls combined, while only one other Trojan - Dunn - was whistled more than once.
“We’re a better team when we don’t throw it to the other team; so is everybody,” Gottlieb said. “We just have to continue to value the ball [and] be sharp.”
Looking Ahead
With the win over Iowa already in their back pocket, USC’s latest victory gives them some breathing room in the NCAA Tournament picture. They’ve climbed to a projected No. 9 seed, according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme, but nothing is guaranteed just yet. The Trojans still have seven regular-season games left - and the road ahead is anything but easy.
Two major challenges loom in No. 9 Ohio State and No.
2 UCLA, both of whom could offer the kind of resume-boosting wins that solidify a postseason berth. But USC can’t afford to look too far ahead.
First up is a road trip that includes Thursday’s game at Northwestern and a Sunday morning showdown with Illinois - two games that, while not marquee matchups, are must-wins for a team looking to stay in the tournament conversation.
The Trojans have shown they can rise to the occasion. Now comes the test of consistency.