LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team has just one more game until Big Ten Conference play begins, and the Trojans look ready.

They beat Pepperdine 82-52 on Friday afternoon behind a dominant defensive performance. It’s the third-fewest points USC (5-2) has given up this season.

“We always want to be conceptualizing the game where no one’s going to get an uncontested layup,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters after the game. “To where it’s going to be one-against-USC, not one-on-one.”

Georgia Tech transfer Kara Dunn had a team-high 19 points on 80% shooting and freshman Jazzy Davidson followed with 18 points. Kennedy Smith added nine points and dished out a team-high seven assists.

Pepperdine’s Elli Guiney scored 12 points and had six assists. Meghan Fiso reached 11 points and Bella Green was the team’s top rebounder with nine boards.

The Trojans, who are coming off a season-best 15 blocks against Tennessee Tech, recorded eight blocks against the Waves. They went into the game leading the conference in blocks and ranked 11th in the nation in that category.

Davidson reached up to knock down the ball at the buzzer to finish off a first half that was defensively strong all around for the entire team.

“Games like today — guarding one through five that can shoot — is really important for the Big Ten,” Dunn, who had two blocks, two steals and three defensive boards, told reporters. “I obviously haven’t played in it, but I played teams in the Big Ten, like Nebraska and Oregon, for example. Games like this, if we can dial in and make sure that we’re preparing for this times 10, I think it’ll be really good for us.”

USC separated itself midway through the first quarter. The Trojans were actively boxing out the Waves (4-2), allowing Davidson to step in for a steal. Dunn blocked a shot on Pepperdine’s next possession to keep the ball in the Trojans’ hands.

Meanwhile, the offense was putting together a 15-2 scoring run that allowed USC to close out the opening quarter with a 21-10 advantage.

“We have a lot of different weapons and abilities on the court,” Gottlieb said. “A lot of time, we’re trying to play in flow where it’s not me specifically saying here’s where we’re trying to get the ball only, and they play off of each other. I think they’re all feeling that a little bit, and we’re trying to hunt great shots every time.”

Davidson opened the second frame with a 3-pointer and went on to finish the game 50% from beyond the arc. She struggled at times with free throws but managed to make five out of eight attempts.

The Trojans thrived in the physicality as the Waves pushed for one-on-one pressure. Dunn pivoted for a turnaround jumper with a defender up against her and roughly a minute later, Vivian Uwichukwu drew a foul on a jump shot and made the and-one basket after to extend USC’s lead to 29-10.

The Trojans began double-teaming Pepperdine’s 6-foot Australian guard Bella Greene, who had a team-high five rebounds by halftime, and held the Waves to 26 points in the first half.

Pepperdine owned a .397 3-point percentage heading into the game, and USC held them at 7.7% on Friday.

“We tried to go execute and wanted to hold them under 30% from three,” Gottlieb said. “We did that. We wanted to turn them over a bunch. We did that. And I thought we shared the ball great. We’re still in a place where we want to keep getting better, but you want to be able to build from a one step forward and now make it two or three in a row.”

Sophomore guard Rian Forestier was subbed into the game for Dunn in the third quarter and logged a season-high 12 minutes. She hit two 3-pointers.

Gottlieb continued to bring in less experienced players throughout the final quarter. Sophomore Brooklyn Shamblin entered with 7:18 remaining, alongside 6-foot-5 forward and Auburn transfer Yakiya Milton.

Pepperdine shot 48.1% in the second half for 35 points against the Trojans, who were the Waves’ first Power Four opponent of the season.

USC hosts Saint Mary’s for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday before beginning Big Ten play against Washington on the following Sunday at 5 p.m.

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