Senior guard Kara Dunn scored 18 points and freshman guard Jazzy Davidson added 16 as Southern California used its defense and dominance on the glass to pull away for a 71-39 win over Rutgers on Sunday.
USC forced 20 turnovers, collected 25 offensive rebounds and held Rutgers to 24.1% shooting from the field. The Trojans outscored the Scarlet Knights 18-3 on second-chance points and 21-11 in points off turnovers.
The Scarlet Knights led briefly early and were tied with USC once in the first quarter before USC took control late in the first half and never looked back. After leading 29-23 at halftime, the Trojans opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run and outscored Rutgers 23-8 in the period to break the game open.
“I thought we didn’t have our best game offensively tonight, but we played with toughness,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.
USC has now held an opponent to single-digit scoring in three of four quarters for the second time this season, previously doing so on December 2 against Saint Mary’s.
Dunn, who finished 7-for-15 from the field, scored at all three levels and added six rebounds to extend her streak to 12 consecutive games in double figures. Davidson went 6-for-17 and contributed nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, earning her 19th straight game scoring in double digits. Sophomore guard Kennedy Smith scored 11 points, and junior guard Malia Samuels added seven off the bench.
“[Consistency and growth has] been a topic of discussion, just staying together and wanting to grow in every aspect of the game,” Smith said. “Whether that’s communication or wanting to be better. Just trying to stay motivated in that time period that I was out.”
Redshirt freshman forward Laura Williams pulled down a game- and career-high 11 rebounds for USC, which finished with a 57-32 rebounding advantage, marking a new season high. The Trojans also received 19 points from their bench and had a 28-18 advantage in the paint.
Rutgers struggled offensively throughout, scoring just eight points in each of the final three quarters and going scoreless over the final 3:15. The Scarlet Knights shot 3-for-19 from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers.
Sophomore guard Zachara Perkins led Rutgers with 12 points, while senior forward Imani Lester added 11. No other Scarlet Knight scored more than six.
Rutgers has been known for its strong defense, holding over 70% of opponents below their scoring averages over the past nine years, but could not get it done against the Trojans, who scored well over their 69-point average.
USC closed the game on a 7-0 run and built its largest lead at 32 points in the final minute.
The Trojans open February with a much-needed win after going 2-6 in January. Their second January win was a top-10 upset over No. 8 Iowa on Thursday, the first victory over Iowa since the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The win marked the first time an unranked USC women’s basketball team beat a top-10 opponent since beating No. 2 Stanford back in 2023.
Rutgers’ 39 points were its second-lowest total this season, behind only a 79-36 loss at Iowa on December 6.
“[It was a] great weekend for us,” Gottlieb said. “[I’m] really excited to build from here. This is a fun group; they stay locked in and are super coachable …I love the mentality.”
USC continues Big Ten play on the road, visiting Northwestern on Thursday at 6 p.m. PST before traveling to Illinois for a Sunday matchup on February 8 at 10 a.m. PST.