USC gets a scare as Jazzy Davidson exits late in victory over Wisconsin
LOS ANGELES — Jazzy Davidson winced in pain as she was carried off the court by her teammates. She guzzled fluids as an athletic trainer worked on her leg.
Even without their star freshman for the last 2:42 of the game, the USC women’s basketball team continued to gain ground in the Big Ten standings on Thursday night, remaining unbeaten in February by beating Wisconsin for its sixth straight win, 66-59.
Davidson was eventually carried into the training room at the Galen Center, leaving concerned teammates behind, but she walked into the postgame press conference with a smile on her face.
Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb clarified afterward that Davidson was dealing with cramps. It’s the second game this season that the 6-foot-1 guard has left due to cramps after coming out of a Dec. 29 game against Nebraska on two separate occasions. The first-year college player said she’s working hard to take care of her body.
“Recovery is everything,” Davidson said. “We have a great trainer here, so making sure that I go to recovery, I get the treatment that I need. Hydration has been huge for me this year, and then eating enough to maintain my weight and try to put more weight on.”
Davidson had 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go with five rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocked shots before exiting. The six-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, averaging 17.2 points per game, is the centerpiece of a team that could be poised for success in future seasons – especially when JuJu Watkins returns next fall.
Laura Williams has become a key piece of the Trojans’ defense and has started in the last four games. The sophomore forward snagged a career-high 14 rebounds and blocked four shots on Thursday.
Williams, who is the daughter of Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams, is in her first season of college basketball after redshirting last season due to injury.
“Coming back this year, it took me a minute to get in my rhythm,” Williams said. “And now that I know that I can do what I can do to help the team – we just want to win. So, however, I can contribute to that. I found that I am good at rebounding, I can block shots, so if that’s all I can do one game, that’s all I’m gonna do.”
The Big Ten regular season is winding down, and USC sits at No. 21 in the NET rankings. Each of the last six games has been critical, since the Trojans (17-9 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) lost six of their eight games in January.
Gottlieb has been pleased with the growth of her team since that difficult stretch.
“If you don’t ever go through adversity, it’s hard to feel as good about the success when you’re getting it,” Gottlieb said. “We know we’re not perfect. It’s six in a row. That’s a lot better than the alternative, but we think we can still get better.”
USC muddled through poor shooting (22%) in the first quarter on Thursday but saw its efficiency from the field start to improve in the second period (36.4%).
Wisconsin (13-14, 5-11) also shot poorly in the first half (24.3%), due in part to the Trojans’ unrelenting defense. USC blocked seven shots and collected six steals before halftime, with Williams leading the charge.
Williams reached up to block a Wisconsin shot and bounced it into Kara Dunn’s hands as USC kept generating opportunities, even if its shots weren’t falling.
“Really great defensive effort by our whole team,” Gottlieb said. “I thought we were super locked in, especially when shots weren’t falling. Laura was an absolute dynamo on the boards.”
Davidson came up with a steal under the basket and went the length of the court for an early layup, and the Trojans steadily built a 30-22 advantage by halftime.
Kennedy Smith (eight points) hit a timely basket when she grabbed a missed layup by Dunn (14 points, seven rebounds) and tapped it in. Dunn followed up less than 20 seconds later with a breakaway 3-pointer for a 10-point lead.
Williams stayed ready under the net throughout the second half, and USC held steady. The Trojans’ offensive flow continued into the fourth, and an array of players contributed to the scoring. Dayana Mendes and Dunn each made clutch 3-pointers to give USC a 61-49 lead with 4:50 left on the clock.
USC – which was outscored 37-36 in the second half – closed out the win, but the team’s focus was clearly on Davidson during the final minutes.
The Trojans will need Davidson to be at her best for the rest of the season, which includes games against No. 10 Ohio State and No. 2 UCLA.
“We haven’t been perfect all year, but there’s a real toughness,” Gottlieb said. “They’re going to give us everything that they have, and you want to start from there. We can coach and teach a lot of the other stuff. There’s some stuff to learn from this film about situational things, but I think we have a tough team.”