Las Vegas, NV- The march madness begins for the No. 5 USC Trojans (24-5 13-5 Pac-12) as they defeated the Arizona Wild Cats 65-62 (17-13, 8-10 Pac-12)to advance to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Rayah Marshall showed up big for Southern California with 15 points and 15 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double.
“It’s March, we’re here to win,” Marshall said. “If you don’t have on ‘USC,’ we’re here to compete and win.”
USC opened the game and jumped out to an early 13-0 lead. Newly crowned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Juju Watkins scored 10 first-quarter points outscoring Arizona by herself as the Trojans led 20-9 at the end of the first period.
Arizona’s defense recorded 11 steals and forced 16 first-half turnovers that allowed them to narrow USC’s lead. The Wildcats scored nine points off of turnovers.
Head Coach Lindsay Gotlieb spoke about her message to the team at halftime about their turnovers. “Just stop turning the s*** over,” Gotlieb said.
USC shot 52% from the field, making 11 of 21 field goal attempts, and shot 44% from behind the arc making 4-9 attempts in the first half.
Arizona struggled shooting 29% from the field going 10 of 34 and shot 14% from three-point range only making 1 of 7 attempts in the first half.
USC was ahead 30-25 at the end of the first half.
In the second half, USC’s offense handled the pressure and took care of the basketball only turning it over an additional five times. The Trojans’ defense forced 11 Arizona turnovers in the second half and capitalized off of them by scoring 12 points.
Juju Watkins finished the game with 17 points, eight rebounds, nine turnovers and sealed the game for USC with a tough finish over an Arizona defender that stretched the Trojans’ lead to five with under a minute remaining.
USC shot 41% on 12-29 shooting from the floor in the second half. The Women of Troy concluded the game by shooting 46% from the field and 32% from three-point range.
Arizona outscored USC in every quarter except for the first period. The Wildcats shot 50% from the field in the second half making 14 of 28 attempts and finished the game shooting 39% from the floor and 20% from behind the arc.
Helena Pueyo led the Wildcats in scoring with 19 points and six assists. Both Skylar Jones and Brea Cunningham added 14 points
USC punches their tickets as they prepare for round three in the Battle for LA as they prepare to face their crosstown Rivals the UCLA Bruins for an opportunity to advance to the championship game Sunday with hopes of becoming the last Pac-12 Tournament champion and continue to show the Selection Committee why they are deserving of a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
