LOS ANGELES — Lindsay Gottlieb could easily be heard over the fallen hush of a sparse first-quarter crowd at the Galen Center. As the USC women’s basketball head coach called a timeout, trailing 13-10 with just over a minute left in the period, she exclaimed to the five Trojans on the floor.
“What are you doing?” she said as her players hustled to the bench. USC couldn’t halt the frantic Portland press. Nor could the Trojans connect from behind the arc, missing seven straight 3-point attempts to begin the game. Gottlieb needed a spark to avoid an upset alert scare against Portland, which lost to Montana State by double digits a little over a week ago, and keep No. 11 USC on track after its loss to No. 2 South Carolina over the weekend.
Luckily for Gottlieb, she has the top freshman in the country on her team. Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson helped build a 21-0 USC run during the second quarter – a surge that lasted 6:30 – to give the Trojans (3-1) a double-digit halftime lead after they trailed by as much as eight points en route to a 78-51 victory on Tuesday night.
Davidson comfortably led all scorers with 19 points and has paced USC with 15.5 points per game through their first four games this season. The 6-foot-1 playmaker also secured seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The landslide of the Trojans’ second-quarter scoring barrage began with a layup from junior guard Malia Samuels. Davidson then poked the ball away from Pilots guard Nicole Anderson for a strip-and-score layup on the ensuing possession. Georgia Tech transfer Kara Dunn then forced a steal herself – feeding Davidson for another layup – before knocking down USC’s first 3-pointer to place the Trojans ahead 19-18.
From there, USC never trailed. Sophomore guard Kennedy Smith and senior guard Londynn Jones (the UCLA transfer) got in on the party with 3s of their own. The Trojans opened a 31-18 lead over the Pilots (2-2) with 2:45 remaining in the second quarter. Smith finished with 13 points, while Jones claimed 12 points.
Davidson’s leading offensive energy wasn’t without her woes. The Clackamas, Oregon native turned the ball over twice in quick succession early in the third quarter, generating a quick hook off the court from Gottlieb.
The freshman’s teammates had her back, however, holding Portland at bay to outscore the Pilots 44-28 in the second half – and continued to force turnovers at a high rate (for a total of 29 overall). Auburn transfer forward Yakiya Milton saw some minutes in the second half, entering for sophomore forward Vivian Iwuchukwu and contributing six points and a game-high 12 rebounds in 12 minutes as Gottlieb continues to mix and match rotations for a new-look Trojans team without JuJu Watkins in the equation.
Pilots forward Lainey Spear led Portland with 11 points. The Trojans shot 40.3% from the field compared to the Pilots’ 32.2% mark. USC outrebounded Portland 49-39.
The Trojans’ first-quarter slump could have been more fatal had Tuesday’s game been Friday in South Bend against No. 24 Notre Dame (3-1) and star guard Hannah Hidalgo. The Trojans’ nonconference slate will take them to aforementioned ACC territory before returning to Los Angeles to face Tennessee Tech on Nov. 25.
More to come on this story.