USC women’s basketball delivers epic comeback 2-OT win at Arizona without JuJu Watkins
Some victories for a sports team are simply inspiring. Some victories mean a lot within the course of the season and the stakes involved on a specific night. The USC women’s basketball team achieved a win which was both inspiring and important on Thursday night against the Arizona Wildcats. The Trojans scored a come-from-behind, double-overtime, 95-93 win against a hungry and determined opponent with JuJu Watkins having fouled out late in regulation time. USC then lost Kaitlyn Davis, another centrally important player, in the first overtime.
USC kept losing players. It never lost faith. Down by 10 with five minutes left in regulation, down five with 35 seconds remaining in regulation, the Trojans didn’t quit. The win is huge. The way they scored the win is remarkably impressive.
Let’s look at the highlights of a remarkable night for a special team:
START WITH THE STUMBLES
USC did a lot of things poorly in this game. Arizona shot close to 50 percent for a large portion of the game. JuJu Watkins missed 10 of her first 12 shots from the field. McKenzie Forbes missed her first eight field goal attempts of the night. Kayla Padilla picked up two quick fouls. USC wasn’t sharp at either end of the floor and didn’t get a favorable whistle from the refs. So many things went against this team, which magnifies the quality of the win … and the grit which produced it.
JUJU FOULS OUT
JuJu Watkins fouled out with 1:41 left in regulation with USC down 67-62. Losing your best player on the road, down five, with just 101 seconds left on the clock usually means a defeat. That set the stage for the comeback which was to unfold.
KAITLYN DAVIS, PART ONE
Kaitlyn Davis scored three straight baskets to keep USC within striking distance at 71-68 entering the final 15 seconds. If she hadn’t stepped up, Arizona would have pulled away.
KAITLYN DAVIS, PART TWO
With USC down three with 16 seconds left, Davis rebounded a missed free throw. She then rebounded a missed 3-pointer. She then passed to Kayla Padilla for one last 3-point try in the final 10 seconds. Davis’s rebounds gave USC more chances to tie.
PADILLA UNDER PRESSURE
Padilla hit the 3-pointer off the assist pass from Davis to tie the score at 71-71 with seven seconds left. She has hit big shots all season for this team.
DAVIS FOULS OUT IN THE FIRST OVERTIME
Kaitlyn Davis fouled out in the first overtime. Rayah Marshall and McKenzie Forbes made enough plays to carry USC to the second overtime. The Trojans couldn’t finish off the Wildcats, but Arizona — which uses a seven-player rotation — had two players of its own foul out. The war of attrition moved into double overtime with Marshall standing tall for USC.
FORBES AND PADILLA
Forbes scored six points in the second overtime after a rough shooting night. Padilla tossed in a huge tiebreaking 3-pointer with nearly two minutes left. Forbes and Padilla helped USC grab a 94-89 lead heading into the final minute of the second overtime.
ENDGAME
With USC up 94-91 and Arizona out of timeouts in the final 10 seconds, Forbes fouled an Arizona player before the Wildcats had a chance to shoot a tying 3-point shot. Arizona got two points, but USC preserved the lead. Rayah Marshall split a pair of free throws with four seconds left, but Arizona had no timeouts and could not automatically advance the ball. A long heave missed. USC had won against all odds.
SIGNIFICANCE, PART ONE
The main significance of this win is not the seeding implications, though that’s big. It’s the realization that this team can win in a highly adverse situation without its best player. That’s an enormous team breakthrough to achieve heading into March Madness. No one on this team should doubt herself. This group really pulled together. That could matter in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.
SIGNIFICANCE, PART TWO
USC and UCLA are now tied for second in the Pac-12 with Oregon State losing to Stanford. It’s simple: A win over Arizona State on Saturday will give USC the No. 2 seed at the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament next week in Las Vegas.
SIGNIFICANCE, PART THREE
Virginia Tech and Oregon State lost on Thursday. USC’s odds of getting a No. 2 seed at the Women’s NCAA Tournament went way up on Thursday. USC is still alive for a No. 1 seed and will need at least three more wins to get there. ASU, the Pac-12 quarterfinals, and the Pac-12 semifinals are must-wins if USC is to get a No. 1 seed. It’s not quite likely, but it’s very much in play.
