Five things USC womens basketball needs to happen…
They say they’re prepared for this.
The elite opponents. The hostile crowds. The taut video games.
Playing a robust nonconference schedule, not to point out a Big Ten Conference slate crammed with 11 other groups that certified for the NCAA Tournament, may pay dividends for the USC ladies’s basketball staff in the approaching days.
The USC ladies’s basketball staff is poised to make a run in the NCAA match. Getty Images
“That doesn’t give us any extra points,” Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters of taking part in so many good groups.
“You know, you have to come out there and do what you need to do, but I think from a mentality standpoint it should give us just a sense of confidence that we’re capable when we play at our best of certainly matching up against anybody.”
The street received’t be simple. Ninth-seeded USC will play its first-round recreation against eighth-seeded Clemson on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. It’s primarily a home recreation for the Tigers, who will need only a two-hour bus trip as opposed to a cross-country flight.
Waiting in the second spherical will doubtless be top-seeded South Carolina. Can the Trojans recapture the shape that helped them attain the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons?
Here are 5 things that need to happen for the Trojans to make a deep run:
After briefly departing USC’s loss to Washington in the Big Ten Tournament with a shoulder injury, star freshman Jazzy Davidson was cleared to play this week. Getty Images
Keep Jazzy healthy
After briefly departing USC’s loss to Washington in the Big Ten Tournament with a shoulder injury, star freshman Jazzy Davidson was cleared to play this week.
That could have been the big enhance the Trojans needed to break their four-game shedding streak.
“I’m super excited,” Davidson told reporters of making her NCAA Tournament debut. “I mean, you grow up playing basketball and watching the NCAA Tournament and it’s always super electric every year, so just getting the opportunity to play in my first one, I don’t take that lightly at all. Just going in and doing whatever I can do to help the team win.”
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Maximize the Big Four
Davidson ought to get lots of help in her bid to help her staff survive the opening weekend.
Kara Dunn, Kennedy Smith and Londynn Jones average a mixed 37.4 factors, giving the Trojans a foursome as fearsome as virtually any in the nation.
Having so many choices makes this staff far more harmful than its 17-13 document may recommend.
Kara Dunn, Kennedy Smith and Londynn Jones average a mixed 37.4 factors. Getty Images
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It’s no secret that this staff hasn’t gotten enough from its bigs.
Forwards Dayana Mendes, Laura Williams, Vivian Iwuchukwu and Yakiya Milton have had their moments but haven’t produced enough constantly.
While they don’t need to carry the staff, they need to be dependable sources of rebounding and protection.
While they don’t need to carry the staff, they need to be dependable sources of rebounding and protection. AP
Don’t let the followers rattle you
USC might be in the troublesome place of taking part in what quantities to a street recreation before even going through the Gamecocks, who are the host staff.
“If it’s a quote-unquote hostile environment,” Gottlieb said of going through Clemson, “like, we feed off of just energy and people there and I hope it’s a really full building and we’ve got to do what we need to do to get a win.”
Go big-game searching
USC packed its early season schedule with national powers so that it wouldn’t be intimidated later in the season.
Among the 4 nationally ranked groups the Trojans confronted was South Carolina. While the Gamecocks prevailed, 69-52, at Crypto.com Arena, USC has developed a mindset that it could beat anybody.
“Just wanting to be the team that someone else doesn’t want to play,” Dunn said of that mentality.
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