No. 16 USC women routed at home by top-ranked

When USC and Connecticut met in the Elite Eight, in the fast wake of JuJu Watkins’ devastating knee injury last March, it didn’t take long to see how a lot USC missed its celebrity. As arduous as the Trojans fought, the Huskies had been merely an excessive amount of to deal with without Watkins.

That thought, 9 months later, hadn’t been given a lot severe credence at USC through a stable 7-2 start. At least, not until Saturday, when the top-ranked Huskies supplied a impolite reminder by completely trouncing the Sixteenth-ranked Trojans, 79-51, in their home area, where that they had yet to lose this season.

“It doesn’t feel good,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “It’s embarrassing to get beat on your home court.”

Granted, Connecticut had yet to lose a recreation since early last February. Coming into Saturday, it had received its 9 video games by an average of 39 factors, dominating wherever it went.

It took all of a few minutes Saturday to see a related beatdown was in store. When it finally was over, less than two hours later, USC had been outmatched in virtually every class. The Huskies shot 18% better from the sector. They dominated the paint (44 factors to 22) and the boards (41 to 33) and pressured seven more turnovers than the Trojans, who struggled to deal with the Huskies’ defensive strain.

“The No. 1 team in the country came in here today,” Gottlieb said, “and they’re really good.”

They definitely had been an excessive amount of for a staff still striving to determine itself out like USC. With no presence inside and no consistency on the perimeter, the Trojans had no solutions when issues clicked into place for the Huskies, whose coach took time to wax poetic after the sport about how his staff went 11-deep.

The same wasn’t precisely true for the Trojans, who acquired 30 factors from the veteran pair of Kennedy Smith and Londynn Jones and little else.

Watkins, who is sitting out this whole season, may only watch from the end of the bench as the star freshman who stepped up in her absence struggled Saturday. Jazzy Davidson had been nothing short of terrific over the last month as she settled into her new position as the Trojans’ undisputed top weapon.

But the freshman appeared something but settled Saturday, as Connecticut blanketed her early and often. Davidson missed her first 5 pictures and managed to make only three of 13 total, scoring 10 factors, her lowest output since USC’s loss to South Carolina.

“She’s only going to get better for having these experiences early in her career,” Gottlieb said.

By the time Davidson had hit her first jumper of the afternoon, early in the second quarter, the Trojans had already dug a 12-point gap. By the time USC scored another bucket, the Connecticut lead had ballooned to 19.

It was up to 22 as Davidson searched for a closing shot in the waning seconds of the first half. When she finally lifted up for a floater, Connecticut ahead Serah Williams was ready. She swatted the shot back into the freshman’s face and Davidson fell to the ground as the buzzer sounded.

It proved to be a becoming image from an afternoon to overlook for USC.

It was ugly from the start. Connecticut harassed USC with full-court strain, forcing turnovers at the Trojans’ own end. When they did make it across half court, the Huskies swarmed the perimeter, leaving USC without many open pictures.

The Trojans managed to maintain tight with the defending champions for a little while. They led 9-8 at the 5:14 mark of the first quarter. But then Connecticut’s protection ratched up. The pictures stop falling. The Huskies went on a 15-0 run to end the first quarter, as USC failed to rating for 5 minutes.

“The game certainly did change,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “It just felt like we were locked in.”

Davidson made a jumper early in the second to put a stop to the stoop, only for the Trojans’ offense to go cold again. Connecticut held USC scoreless for six more minutes after that as it ripped off another run, extending its lead to 22 at halftime.

USC guard Juju Watkins, who is recovering from a torn ACL, stands with teammates during the Trojans’ lopsided loss to UConn Saturday at the Galen Center.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Any hope of a miracle comeback was extinguished mere minutes after halftime, as Connecticut once again mounted a run. It was virtually 5 minutes into the third quarter before Londynn Jones finally made the Trojans’ first shot of the half.

By then, there was no more suspense of where Saturday was heading.

The query now is where the blowout loss, the Trojans’ worst since January 2023, leaves them with the majority of their Big Ten slate starting in just two weeks’ time. No. 4 UCLA awaits on Jan. 3.

“Games like this are where you learn so much,” Jones said. “We can’t do anything about the past. What are we going to do moving forward?”