USC returned to the Galen Center after splitting their last two Big 10 road games with another
dominant win against Ohio State Buckeyes. Women of Troy rallied in 2nd half to seal an 84 – 63
victory, preparing for an upcoming crosstown rivalry matchup against UCLA this Thursday.
Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb praised her team’s toughness, opening up the post-game press
conference with this statement, “A really big win for this team, for our program, we know how
good Ohio State is and all the implications kind on the line with both team records,” she added,
“I thought this was a game we dominated in the inside with our offensive rebounds and our
production from the front court and knocked down a bunch of threes.”
Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff had this to say after receiving his 2nd road Conference loss
within a week by two Southern Cal teams, “We got our [expletive] kicked on the boards. We’re
not going to be able to compete or fight let alone beat a team like USC, ” Coach McGuff
explained, “Two they beat us to every loose ball. Lastly, we forced them to 23 turnovers but we
did not do a good job of converting them into points.”
Coach McGuff noted his team forced USC to turn the ball over many times yet did not capitalize
and score similar to what he felt happened against their previous opponent UCLA.
“Well one of our keys to the game and scout for today was to dominate the boards and I think
we did just that—dominate,” Senior forward KikI Iriafen continued, “ it was on my mind and I
think we have great players that are versatile as we had a lot of guards almost in double-digit
[rebounds] as well,” Iriafen said.
Ohio State coaches and their players both expected Sophomore elite scorers, JuJu Watkins and
Iriafen to impact the game but acknowledged the major difference by freshman Kennedy Smith
made on both ends of the floor.
“Kennedy is just really, really, really special and you see it when we ask her to guard an
incredibly fast kid in the full court against [Jaloni] Cambridge or matchup with Cotie [McMahon],
who is strong,” Gottlieb said,” coming in as a freshmen I don’t know if I’ve had a better just
instinctive, smart, talented defender and that’s not all she is…she’s a versatile mismatch
nightmare, she can post up, she can shoot the three, really good at moving the ball and I think
we’ve only just begun to see what she’s capable of though I don’t know if it’s a surprise for
people in our locker room.”
USC started off sluggish, missing layups and unforced turnovers, taking only an 8-point lead into
the first half. Ohio State, used their quickness and athleticism to their advantage, scoring 18
points in the paint, with their 3 small guards and versatile forwards looking to draw fouls while
attacking the basket. Women of Troy attempted to match this intense energy with 12 points in
the paint and in contrast, 14 free throws from their aggressiveness. USC led 34 – 26, shooting
32 percent into halftime. Three-pointers were huge momentum shifts for USC, as freshmen
Avery Powell and Smith, hit one apiece along with starting point guard, Talia Von Oelhoffen in
the first half.
Women of Troy’s offense heated up early in the second half as their defense caused more
turnovers for Buckeyes, stretching that lead margin to pull away with the game. With 2:00, left in
the 3rd, Watkins connected finally on her first made field goal of the game, after making only two
free throws in first half.
Smith resumed picking up the slack for her struggling teammate off shooting night possibly from
what appeared as her jamming her finger in the first play of the game. However, after Smith
scored six in the first half and zero in the third quarter while taking no shot attempts, she took
over in the 4th with a perfect 2-2 from the field, 1-1 from triples, 2-3 from the charity stripe along
with four assists to register her first career double-double and the third player in the game for
USC.
Iriafen led all scorers with 24 points, logging another double-double as well with 13 rebounds
and four assists.
Rebounds played a pivotal role in the game, with USC grabbing 62 in total. Five USC players
racked up eight or more, while Ohio State had no player with more than five. Rebounding
negated Ohio State’s defensive pressure and fast pace led to 23 USC turnovers compared to
Ohio State’s 10.
Ohio State (20-3, 9-3)was led by Taylor Thierry with 14 points and 5 assists, who also matched
up with Watkins most of the game before fouling out. McMahon and Chance Gray each added
13 and 12 points, respectively. USC height and length seem to be a factor, particularly in the
second half, when they denied Ohio State with six blocks, and ten for the game. Ohio State also
struggled from the arc, only connecting twice on 11 attempts, hitting only one triple each half.
Next up, USC will return home to play in their 1st matchup of the season against rival and No. 1
ranked nationally as well as Big 10, UCLA Bruins at the Galen Center, Thursday, at 7 pm. Then
back on the road to matchup against Washington on Feb. 16th, at 4 p.m.
