USCs defense against Paige Bueckers begins with | College News

Kennedy Smith might really feel her physique dragging. It was late December, and she or he’d simply returned from a month-long damage absence. She was nonetheless getting her legs back, nonetheless looking for her footing in her first season at USC. But there was no time for that right here, not with Paige Bueckers and Connecticut pushing the tempo, testing each inch of the Trojans’ defense.

However fatigued she may need felt, no one might inform that day. The freshman had performed simply 4 video games at USC to that time, however even then performed an important position in lifting the Trojans previous the Huskies, all whereas on a minutes restriction.

To Beth Burns, the architect of USC’s defense, it was basic Kennedy.

“What she does, she works four times as hard as some other people on the floor because of what we’re asking her to do,” Burns stated. “She takes it on and then some.”

Four months later, as a rematch with No. 2 seed Connecticut awaits within the Elite Eight, Smith should shoulder more than ever within the wake of JuJu Watkins’ season-ending damage. In USC’s Sweet 16 win over Kansas State, she was the Trojans’ catalyst on offense, scoring 11 of their first 13 factors and main the group with 19. But it’s her defense that may need to make a distinction Monday, as a attainable head-to-head matchup with Bueckers beckons with a Final Four bid on the road.

For any who may need forgotten, Bueckers reminded in a win over Oklahoma what makes her one of probably the most dynamic scorers in all of school basketball. She performed simply seven minutes of the fourth quarter, but scored 19 factors in that stretch, practically matching the Sooners’ whole second-half output. She would end with 40, a profession high, simply a day after saying she’d declare for the WNBA draft, the place she’s anticipated to be the No. 1 decide.

Lindsay Gottlieb, USC’s coach, actually needed no reminder of Bueckers’ greatness. She carried Connecticut previous her Trojans in final 12 months’s Elite Eight, scoring 28 and pulling down 10 rebounds. When they met again in Storrs in December, Bueckers nonetheless managed 22 in a USC win. Albeit much less effectively.

“Paige has been an incredible player for years now,” Gottlieb stated. “She does it efficiently. It’s her ability to score, her ability to pass and involve others to move without the basketball, and I think what we’re seeing a little differently now … it’s an urgency, right? Not that she’s not been urgent before, but you see it on her face. Like, there’s no more waiting. It can’t be, OK, next time or next time. It’s right now.”

When they met the primary time this season, it was Watkins who most frequently chased Bueckers. Without Watkins, that position will presumably fall to Smith, the Trojans best on-ball defender.

Gottlieb assured Sunday that it may possibly’t be only one individual making an attempt to gradual Bueckers. But Bueckers isn’t about to take Smith and her defense with no consideration, both, even when she doesn’t know for sure how a lot Smith will likely be defending her.

“You would think she is not a freshman the way she plays defense — just her mentality, her tenacity, her length, her agility, her speed, her lateral movement,” Bueckers stated. “She does a really good job of anticipating as well. She has great defensive instincts. She’s a great defensive player.”

USC’s Kennedy Smith, proper, guards Kansas State’s Serena Sundell during the Trojans’ win within the Sweet 16 of the NCAA event on Saturday.

(Young Kwak / Associated Press)

There’s the remainder of the Huskies’ offense past Bueckers to fret about too. Freshman Sarah Strong was stellar of their December assembly, main the best way with 22 factors and 13 rebounds. Guard Azzi Fudd performed simply eight minutes in that as she labored her approach back from damage, however assured this week that she feels “completely different”, that means the Huskies may have their full healthy complement of scorers at their disposal.

USC gained’t have that very same luxurious with out Watkins. Even its second-leading scorer, Kiki Iriafen, was rendered largely ineffective against Kansas State’s fixed double groups, leaving Smith and fellow freshman Avery Howell to hold the load offensively.

“My confidence is not shaken,” Iriafen assured Sunday after being held to a season-low seven factors within the Sweet 16. “It’s one game, and it’s a new day. We have a new day to fight. I think as a team beating UConn already gives us a lot of confidence, but we’re not cocky. We understand that they’re a great team. They’re kind of playing at their best right now, and we’re [missing] a huge piece. But I think for us, when there’s a will, there’s a way.”

No one has embodied that sentiment this season more than Smith. But her teammates might see that from the day she arrived at USC final summer season.

“She was just tenacious,” Iriafen stated.

“It’s non-stop,” added Rayah Marshall.

So it was no shock within the closing minutes Saturday, with USC up simply three, to see the freshman poke away a steal to seal it. By that time, she’d performed 35 unrelenting minutes. She was drained.

But on the most important juncture of USC’s season, Smith confirmed no indicators of slowing. Burns, having recognized her for a whereas now, hadn’t anticipated something much less.

“When you can think that quick and move that quick and be so powerful,” Burns stated, “you put it all together and that’s what you get.”