USC Wins a Women’s Basketball Match Against the Gophers

The Gophers women’s basketball team battled fourth-ranked USC on Thursday night on the West Coast, accomplishing many of its goals.

The Trojans’ Player of the Year contender, Juju Watkins, was largely restrained by the Gophers, especially Amaya Battle. The Gophers battled on the boards and handled the ball well against one of the Big Ten’s top defences.

However, the Gophers lost 82-69 because it took them a few minutes to settle in.

The Gophers (18-4 overall, 6-4 Big Ten) were unsteady at the beginning and fell behind by 15 points before the game had even been played. They were never able to fully recover.

“We didn’t start very well,” Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit explained by phone. “We got sped up. We didn’t finish at the rim. We turned the ball over. All of a sudden, they’re on a run.”

However, the Gophers also managed to score a few runs.

Sophie Hart’s shot with 8:10 remaining in the game helped the Gophers come back from a 20-point deficit late in the third quarter to within six. They only came that close. Avery Howell’s three seconds later gave USC (19-1, 9-0) permanent control.

Nevertheless, the Gophers played a top-five team straight up after a poor start. The Gophers only committed seven more turnovers in the last three or more quarters after committing three when behind 20-5.

However, that early deficit proved to be too much in the Trojans’ home facility.

“Obviously we’re not happy with the slow start,” Hart, who had her second straight outstanding game with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists, explained by phone. “But once we found our groove we competed well. We have to learn from this. We can compete with great teams.”

Mallory Heyer scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, making five of her seven three-point attempts.

Battle pulled down seven rebounds and scored 14 points. Even more, she had one of her best defensive performances ever. Watkins recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. However, she only had nine points after three quarters, had only two points, and was 0-for-10 in the first half. Watkins finished 7-for-24 overall and 1-for-8 on threes, ranking third in the country in scoring.

The entire forty minutes were spent in battle.

With 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting, USC centre Kiki Iriafen more than made up for Watkins’ lost points. In the first quarter, which concluded with USC up 10, nine of those occurred. The Trojans won their 15th consecutive game, making 11 of 27 three-pointers (40%) and outscoring the opposition 20–5.

The Gophers had one run remaining in the third quarter, behind 20 points with less than four minutes remaining.

The Gophers went from trailing 61-41 to within 64-58 after a 17-3 run led by Heyer, who made three three-pointers and scored 11 points in 5:15 of the clock. Freshman Tori McKinney also had two drives during that run.

Things don’t get any simpler. The Gophers will play Iowa and Indiana at Williams Arena at home after wrapping up their two-game road trip at No. 1-ranked UCLA on Sunday.