USC women rout Rutgers for 2nd straight Big Ten win

LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team recovered from a shaky first half of shooting to earn its second straight win by beating Rutgers 71-39 on Sunday afternoon, bringing them within one win of hitting the .500 mark with seven games left in the conference season.

“We were some dogs out there today,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters. “It wasn’t our best offensive day, but we rebounded the ball and we picked up full and tried to generate a win. There’s a lot for us still to work on, but a big weekend for us and proud, especially of our defensive effort. And we’ll keep going from here.”

Kara Dunn scored a game-high 18 points for the Trojans (13-9 overall, 5-6 Big Ten), falling just short of her seven-game streak of scoring over 20 points in a game. Jazzy Davidson scored 16 points while pulling down nine rebounds and grabbing three steals, and Laura Williams had 11 rebounds off the bench.

Lack of efficient shooting from both teams made it difficult for either Rutgers (9-13, 1-10) or USC to maintain an advantage on the scoreboard early on. The Trojans shot 26.2% from the field in the first half, making 11 out of 42 shots, while the Scarlet Knights shot 31%.

The effort, however, was something that Gottlieb could build off of.

“Our effort, energy and will were there,” she said. “We just were too sloppy in the first half and then we settled down and shot the ball better. At halftime, we had to settle down and say, we can have that energy and still make the right play on offense.”

USC strung together seven unanswered points in the first quarter to pull ahead of Rutgers 12-11, despite struggling against a zone defense. Imani Lester (11 points) made two straight jump shots to put the Knights out front again with less than a minute remaining in the frame.

Malia Samuels, who was back after missing one game due to an undisclosed injury, started off the second quarter with a corner three and the Trojans and Knights traded points until USC put together a 12-1 scoring run.

Samuels grabbed a steal with 3:31 on the clock and dished the ball to Kennedy Smith — a key player in connecting the offense who also finished with 11 points for herself. Smith made a read to get the ball in Williams’ hands, and she drained a jump shot for a 10-point lead at 29-19.

“She brings the defense, energy, and leadership that we need from his team,” Smith said of Samuels. “She’s a big asset for this team, so her being back brought us momentum on the defensive end.”

Even though the shots weren’t falling, consistent rebounding kept USC in the game. The Trojans pulled down 33 boards in the first half alone compared to Rutgers’ 18, and Williams led the effort with 10.

“She’s a super, terrific athlete, and she has long arms, and she goes up and gets the ball,” Gottlieb said of Williams. “Laura, I thought, set a really great tone there. She rebounded both offensively and defensively, and she did that still in only 14 minutes.”

USC pulled ahead for good in the third quarter, and its shooting efficiency skyrocketed. The Trojans were 9 for 11 from the floor while holding the Knights to just three made baskets and two free throws.

Rutgers was without leading scorer and starting forward Nene Ndiaye, as well as 6-foot-4 forward Yacine Ndiaye, for the game. Both were listed as “out” on the Big Ten pregame availability report.

Smith made a layup with 3:39 left in the third and made a defensive stop by knocking a Rutgers pass out of bounds when the Knights got the ball back. Londynn Jones added onto the 13-2 scoring run with a 3-pointer to keep the Trojans rolling.

USC gained over a 20-point lead when two made free throws by Samuels brought the score to 52-31. Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb began to pull starters from the game with 4:38 remaining in the final quarter, when the Trojans had a 64-33 lead.

Rutgers’ 39 points were the fewest scored since Dec. 6 when Iowa beat the Knights 79-36.

“We’re so good defensively that we really don’t want to give them any easy possessions and transition off turnovers,” Gottlieb said. “And I think we’re really capable offensively. We just have to continue to value the ball, be sharp.”