Nothing beats a Big Ten upset, especially when the underdog hasn’t beaten the team since 1984. That’s right: unranked USC women’s basketball (12-9, 4-6) got the dominant 81-69 win over No. 8 Iowa (18-3, 9-1), not only snapping Iowa’s eight-game winning streak but giving the Trojans their first win against the Hawkeyes in 40 years.
“We really felt like we needed this one,” freshman guard Jazzy Davidson said. “I feel like the team morale is really good right now, despite the losses. It’s good for us to have this win moving forward into February.”
USC was set on keeping its foot on the gas after coming into tonight losing two close games on the road in the fourth quarter. USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s mission to disrupt Iowa’s guards and turn her team’s defensive effort into offensive momentum characterized the Trojans’ commanding win.
“They have a great interior game, so we wanted to battle the bigs, but really take their guards out with pressure,” Gottlieb said. “I thought Kennedy [Smith], Jazzy, Londynn [Jones], and Dayana [Mendes] did a really good job of that.”
USC relied heavily on its 3-point shooting to stay ahead in the first, and went on to shoot eight more threes than Iowa in the game. Still, Iowa’s mistakes racked up: if the Hawkeyes hadn’t racked up seven turnovers in the first, the score might’ve looked a lot different. USC’s defensive stand held Iowa leading scorer and sophomore center Ava Heiden to just two points in the period.
The 3-point magic ended for the Trojans in the second quarter, however. To make things worse, USC’s perimeter defense faltered as the Hawkeyes put up four threes in the second. Iowa sophomore guard Taylor Stremlow provided a much-needed scoring spark off the bench with 11 points on 60% shooting from three in the first half.
“I really got on them about the six made threes in the first half, and then we held them to one in the second. So that was the defensive plan and I thought they did a really good job of that,” said Gottlieb.
After a drop in the second quarter, USC picked back up its mindset of being aggressive for all four quarters. Although starting off slow, their pace quickly intensified, holding the Hawkeyes to no field goals for about four-and-a-half minutes.
Continuing a common trend in recent games, the Trojans began to lose an early lead they built for themselves in the half. On the contrary, tonight’s win demonstrated a more disciplined team that handled the opponents’ runs with control, a factor that Gottlieb praised in their huddles.
“In the last two games, we had to paddle back from these big deficits,” Gottlieb said. “It’s like okay that was their run, no more. I just see a tangible difference in how they’re handling those moments.”
The Trojans built an impressive 20-point lead against the No. 2 team in the Big Ten. Four Trojans, including Davidson, Jones, Smith, and senior guard Kara Dunn, scored in double digits and combined had 23 assists.
The Trojans’ ability to force Iowa into turnovers and quickly get buckets on the other side of the floor was the nail in the coffin for Iowa. USC had 17 points off turnovers while only giving up the ball five times themselves.
The Trojans never trailed in the game and eventually kept the Hawkeyes in the paint and off the 3-point line, effectively executing Gottlieb’s game plan. They weathered Iowa’s high scoring second quarter and didn’t give up their second-half lead, showing great improvement from previous matchups.
It was an impressive upset for USC that could signify a pivotal moment in the squad’s season as we begin to inch closer to March. Gottlieb expressed how their team is close to a breaking point and how this game has set an expectation for how the rest of the season should go.
“I believe we are a better basketball team now than we were [at Michigan and Michigan State], and now we just gotta keep showing it,” Gottlieb said. “We’ve got eight games in the second half of the conference, and my expectation is that we’re in the top in the second half.”
The Trojans will be back at Galen Center to host Rutgers on Sunday.