Los Angeles, CA – No. 3 AP preseason ranked USC Women’s Basketball team ended their wait as the anticipated return of their hometown hero, Senior Guard JuJu Watkins, scored a quick bucket in the first play from tipoff, before her team started to unravel with Watkins finishing the final two minutes out of the game, while watching her team avoid an upset in a close win over California women’s basketball team, 78-76 for their season first exhibition at Galen Center on Sunday afternoon.
Women of Troy first game did not play out like a “first look exhibition” because the Bears competed at a level that seem to not have got the memo with relentless effort shown as if this game would count on either team’s record. Even the crowd showed up as if it wasn’t an exhibition game with regular season kind of energy.
“Maybe it was nerves or just feeling it out, you know, that kind of thing,” USC Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said to fi360news. “ I think for us, we can put them in a closed scrimmage and we can scrimmage our practice squad, but when the fans are here and the lights are a little bit different now. We have standards or principles that we want to do no matter if we’re in front of, you know, 20,000 people or nobody, but it’s a real thing that when you get out here and get in those kind of situations, you find out what you got. And there were some things I was really, really pleased with. And obviously some things that exposed us that we need to get better…”
Women of Troy will have to work on rebounding especially with their size on the perimeter against smaller guards like the Bears have whom were able to go around them and had they converted on those extra possessions during the final stretch this game story would have turned into a different ending.
“I mean, of course, I would have loved to play as much as I could, but I was on a a minutes restriction,” Watkins said to fi360news. “I’ve waited for this moment and I’m glad it was a great game. I think we kind of didn’t play to the standard that we would have liked, but we’ll continue to get better and and go back to the drawing board and figure some things out.”
USC did some things well like in taking care of the ball and forcing 18 turnovers that turned into 18 points.
USC Sophomore Forward Laura Williams came off the bench to be a game difference maker and spark in the second quarter immediately making her presence felt especially towards the end of the game with a combination defensive stop of a block then rebound despite her team being out-rebounded for the game, 45-39.
“Laura was terrific. It was nothing that I haven’t seen in practice. She’s much improved,” Coach Gottlieb said. “She can kind of play multiple positions for us now. She’s a veteran. She plays like a veteran. We know what we’re going to get. I thought she gave really good minutes today.”
USC made a pivotal late run in the second half after leading as much as eight in the second quarter before Cal made a comeback attempt all the way to the sound of the final buzzer.
Women of Troy did make some pretty transition plays on offense despite an ugly shooting night, hitting 30-of-71 for 42 percent but a dismal 20 percent behind the arc. USC dished out 18 assists as well as robbed Cal of 14 possessions.
Though there was much anticipation to watch “JuJu” alongside playing with Sophomore star Jazzy Davidson and them being a dynamic duo, as both finished with 18 apiece plus filling out the stat sheets. Yet not much chemistry between them stood out this game.
Instead, Freshman Saniyah Hall stole the spotlight, leading the way with 23 points and making a few big plays on both ends of the court including grabbing one of her six rebounds, a decisive defensive rebound in the final minutes to hold off the Bears, followed by Williams’ rebound that led to a Davidson assisted fast break to Kennedy Smith for a four point lead with only 17 seconds remaining in the game, 75-71 USC.
“I think just being on the court with all of them was just an amazing moment and just great to see all the fans out there and everybody supporting,” Hall said to fi360news during postgame presser. “It was a good game, but we got to get better at some stuff for sure.”
As Hall already is making a case to be this season’s Freshmen of the year, reigning Freshmen of the year Davidson became clutch for her team from the free throw line with knocking down 3-of-4 to seal the game.
Next up for Women of Troy is their first road trip of the season to Las Vegas playing UNLV in the Hall of Fame series on November 2nd at T-Mobile Arena.