USC women’s basketball shuts out Washington in overtime, sweeps road trip, moves to 15-4
What a tremendous weekend it was for USC women’s basketball. After raising their national and Pac-12 profile due to a titanic upset of league heavyweight Stanford, the Trojans were a marked team. Everyone wanted to beat them and knock them down a peg. USC had to go on the road for the Washington road trip, first to Pullman on Friday and then to Seattle on Sunday. Washington State and Washington were waiting to spring an ambush and shove USC off course. Would this team let it happen?
Nope, though it did get very tense on Sunday afternoon on the University of Washington campus.
USC, leading 54-49 with 15 seconds left, missed two free throws, allowed a tying 3-point shot, and committed a turnover. The Trojans should have been in the locker room celebrating after 40 regulation minutes. Instead, they had to start all over again in overtime and scrap for a game which they couldn’t finish.
It was a supreme mental test worthy of a team and a program which are learning how to build a winning identity. If this team really was made of special stuff — and deserving of an NCAA Tournament bid — it needed to walk over the hot coals of pressure and difficulty. USC made things difficult, but this is the kind of crucible a team needs to handle in order to be viewed as tournament-worthy.
The Trojans passed their test.
Former USC pitcher Randy Johnson would have been impressed by the USC women. They shut out Washington in overtime, 9-0, and scored a 63-54 win over the Huskies. USC swept the Washington road trip and is now 15-4 for the season, 5-3 in the Pac-12. USC isn’t an NCAA Tournament lock, but this team is getting closer to securing a bid. The Trojans are now at a point, relative to the bubble, where if they avoid any bad losses and get a few more quality wins, they should be fine.
USC’s elite defense forced 22 Washington turnovers and allowed only five three throw attempts. Washington’s Dalayah Daniels had a great game, hitting 8 of 10 field goal attempts. Other than Daniels, Washington players went 15 of 49 from the field, just over 30 percent.
USC’s Rayah Marshall was the player of the game, recording a truly remarkable stat line of 8 blocked shots, 16 rebounds, 5 steals, and 9 points. The points were the least important part of that line, hence they are mentioned last. Eight blocks? Five steals? From the same player in the same game? With 16 boards? Holy smokes. That’s the kind of do-everything defensive effort which enabled USC to blank Washington in overtime and score another hard-fought win.
USC visits Salt Lake City to face the nationally-ranked Utah Utes on Friday in its next game.
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USC women's basketball moves into projected NCAA Tournament field after huge win over Stanford
