Los Angeles, CA- No. 16 USC beat St Mary’s in a similar style to how they’ve won their previous two games at the Galen Center, in another decisive score, 79-33, behind one of Transfer Senior Guard Londynn Jones’ best defensive performance according to head coach Lindsay Gottlieb to go with 17 points.
“First off, I want to wish good luck to St. Mary, though I think we made them look rougher than what they are,” Coach Gottlieb said. “I thought our players took this challenge…our players moved the ball great, turned it over minimally, got to the right spot, people knocked down shots.”
Women of Troy were able to defeat the Gaels by 46 points with a variety of defenses and lineups that tallied up 16 steals to hold this team to single digit points in three out of four quarters.
“Obviously, holding a team to 33 points is exceptional, but we’re still getting better, ”Coach Gottlieb said. “We have a lot of great defenders and it starts with Kennedy and everyone’s feeding off of her.”
On the other end of the court, Transfer Senior Kara Dunn’s offensive prowess continues to lead USC dominance against non-conference teams after losing on the road to two tough power 4 non-conference ranked contenders, University of South Carolina and Notre Dame.
USC started on a short run before St. Mary settled into their offense in the first quarter. But in the second quarter, the Women of Troy turned up their pressure on both ends behind Dunn delivering 11 points with efficient shooting plus three steals. Junior Guard Malia Samuels returned into the starting lineup after missing the last game and finished with four steals in limited minutes.
“We’re working on making sure our execution is really good,” Dunn said. We’re making sure we’re giving all of our effort in every play. We’re getting better in boxing out…games like this there should be no reason, we’re not efficient.”
USC bench was just as effective and efficient behind the veteran leadership of Jones coming off the bench and giving her team an extra boost of energy and experience, scoring nine points in the first half off 50% shooting. USC entered halftime with a 24-point lead, 42-18.
Big 10 Freshmen of the week, Jazzy Davidson also scored in double figures with 14 points, though she struggled from deep range, going 2-9, plus pitching in six assists.
“Kind of like Kara said, we’re not taking any team lightly, “Davidson said.
USC showed no mercy for St. Mary coming out of halftime with a 21-0 run. Jones led the charge with eight points in nearly three minutes of action shooting perfect from the field, 2 of 2 from three-point range and 2 of 2 from the free throw line.
However, she cooled off, missing her last four shots in the final quarter despite USC ending the game on a 12-0 run.
The Women of Troy (6-2) will have three remaining home games of this six-game homestead as they prepare to host No. 21 Washington on Sunday matching up against one of their former players, Avery Howell, whom transferred after one season at USC.
