JuJu Watkins, Kiki Iriafen set the pace as No. 6 USC women crush Saint Louis
PALM DESERT — JuJu Watkins scored a season-best 34 points despite four fouls, Kiki Iriafen added a career-high 30 and the sixth-ranked USC women’s basketball team pulled away in the second half to beat Saint Louis, 104-65, on Friday night in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
Watkins shot 12 for 22 from the field and 7 for 9 from the free-throw line to go with six rebounds and three steals. Iriafen shot 9 for 16 from the field and made all 12 of her free throws to go with 12 rebounds and three steals, as they became the first USC players to score at least 30 points in the same game since 2000. Talia Von Oelhoffen added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Trojans (6-1).
Saint Louis made it interesting in the first half. After falling behind by nine in the first quarter, the Billikens overcame USC’s press and used a 12-1 run to outscore the Trojans 22-18 in the second quarter. Saint Louis shot 48% in the second quarter while holding USC to 40% and the Billikens’ bench outscored the Trojans’ reserves 10-5 to trail just 42-37 at halftime.
But USC roared back in the third, outscoring the Billikens 37-8. Watkins had seven points during an 18-0 run as defense sparked much of the dominance. The Trojans outscored Saint Louis 19-0 in points off turnovers during the third quarter.
USC scored 45 points off of 24 Saint Louis turnovers for the night.
The Billikens (3-5) were led by Mia Bergstrom with 19 points.
USC went 2-0 in the desert, having routed Seton Hall 84-51 on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
USC hosts Cal Baptist on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.