5 takeaways from USC women’s basketball victory over Arizona
The USC Trojans were not at their best, but they still bested the Arizona Wildcats without too much trouble on a rare Monday night of women’s basketball at the Galen Center. The Pac-12 usually plays women’s basketball games on Fridays and Sundays. USC got the ESPN2 prime-time treatment for this game, and the Trojans took care of business against an undermanned Arizona squad which suffered multiple in-game injuries and did not have the bodies needed to keep up with USC.
The win moves USC to 18-4 on the season and solidifies a top-four NCAA Tournament seed for the Trojans, who are coming closer to their central goal of hosting Women’s NCAA Tournament games at the Galen Center for the first time. If they secure that top-four seed — right now they are a projected No. 3 seed — they will host the opening weekend of the Big Dance, a special goal which would improve their chances of making the Sweet 16 and an NCAA regional.
Here are five takeaways from USC’s 81-64 victory:
KAYLA PADILLA AND MCKENZIE FORBES STEP UP (AGAIN)
It can’t always be JuJu Watkins doing things by herself. She will need help, and she got it on Monday. Kayla Padilla hit five of her first seven 3-pointers and finished 5 of 8. McKenzie Forbes hit 3 of 6 triples. The two combined to make 8 of 14 3-point shots. USC is unlikely to lose when that happens.
GOOD JUJU
JuJu Watkins affects a game even when she isn’t shooting especially well. She grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. She also got to the free throw line 12 times, making all 12, in the first 32 minutes of the game. JuJu attacked the basket and was rewarded for it. USC is unstoppable when JuJu is splashing 3-pointers and hitting a high percentage of shots, but the most reliable version of JuJu is the one which gets to the foul line and piles up easy points while getting the opposition in foul trouble.
BAD JUJU
We got to see this game because it was on ESPN2, not Pac-12 Network. It was noticeable how many times JuJu Watkins got stripped of the ball while dribbling. Arizona’s perimeter defenders are good, and they constantly got deflections, occasionally some steals, by swiping the ball from Watkins while she was dribbling. Watkins committed seven turnovers. In March, against good defenses, she has to be able to make quicker reads, put pressure on the defense, and still make relatively uncomplicated plays which set up teammates. She did this at times against Arizona but had a lot of possessions in which she dribbled for several seconds, waited for something to happen, and got stuck. It’s a good learning experience for her. Arizona is not a complete team, but the Wildcats are good on defense, and they might have taught JuJu how to handle on-ball pressure.
RAYAH MARSHALL DOUBLE-DOUBLE IS BACK
Rayah Marshall put together another double-double. When she’s playing well, she double-doubles with points and rebounds. She went for 12 and 10 in this game, with nearly all of her production occurring in the second half. Marshall was a little out of position (along with her USC teammates) in the first half. In the second half, she was getting to her spots and finishing plays. USC’s overall energy was so much better after halftime. The third quarter was an excellent quarter. USC outscored Arizona 23-11 to take full control.
CONCERN HEADING TO OREGON
USC played this game on a Monday, meaning it has just three days off, not the usual four, before its next game on Friday at Oregon. Because of that shorter break, it seemed logical that Lindsay Gottlieb — with USC up 21 at the 3:30 mark of the fourth quarter — would pull her starters. She kept them in until the final minute. USC therefore got only 42 bench minutes in this game. The Trojans got 59 bench minutes last Friday versus Arizona State. Maybe Gottlieb wanted the starters to play more, but JuJu Watkins does not need to be playing 38 minutes in a game which is essentially over with 3:30 left.
Oregon is a team USC should beat. Oregon State will be a very tough team to beat on Sunday. USC needs more bench minutes in the Friday game in Eugene before it heads to Corvallis on Sunday. Gottlieb needs to make sure JuJu has enough fuel in the tank.
