Los Angeles, CA – The USC women’s basketball team set a program record with 124 points to defeat CSUN by 85 points, setting another program record for largest margin of victory. Completing this historic game night which was like dinner and a movie was the acknowledgment of USC women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb winning her 300th career game. USC continued to defend their homecourt in the midst of a 4-game homestand as they moved to 3-0 while delivering CSUN their first loss of the season (2-1).
Opening the game on a 12-2 run, led by returning lead scorer, JuJu Watkins, played most of the night as a server rather than sous chef. She dished out 9 assists while still scoring 21 points on a slightly off shooting night. When asked in postgame about Watkins’ passing up shots to involve her teammates more, Coach Gottleib responded with it was natural for Watkins rather than intentional, “What I talk to her over and over is making the right play. To me I think all of us have a trust with everyone’s [strengths],” Coach Gottleib said.
Watkins’ teammates received her passing as a vote of confidence, as the bench cooked up 56 points to balance out the night. Finishing off a high scoring game with a high field goal percentage, shooting over 60 percent and close to 50 percent from beyond the arc, was not a fairytale ending for CSUN’s defense. Despite CSUN packing in the paint, daring USC to shoot outside the perimeter, did not offer up the results of a noble contender.
Malia Samuels and Kiki Iriafen, heated up from the 3-point line it seemed each time CSUN thought USC would cool down their hot shooting. Ignited earlier in the game by Kennedy Smith and Talia Von Oelhoffen, seven Lady Trojans scored in double figures, including Kayleigh Heckel leading all scorers off the bench. CSUN broke the scoring smorgasbord with back-to-back triples from Lainin Dahlin, only to make USC bleed a little before coming back with another scoring run led by USC Sophomore, Aaliyah Gayles.
As starters left room for dessert, USC’s bench continued to force turnovers including back-to-back steals and assists from Gayles. Gayles broke the double digit score with her own jumper to make the crowd erupt as USC entered into the 100s. Coach Gottleib rotated the remaining of the bench in the game, for the entire 13-player roster to taste action without showing no mercy in a lop-sided battle.
Combination of rosters, buffet of jump shots, and constant defensive intensity, USC did not lose sight of Coach Gottleib’s message and the team’s mission. “I thought that I am very transparent with the messaging. I thought against Cal-Poly, we let off the gas sometimes and we did much better in this game,” Coach Gottleib said as she expressed gratitude for a fun, milestone victory.
