USC Smothers Nebraska In Road Win
How Did USC Shut Down One of the Nation’s Hottest Offenses?
It isn’t easy going on the road and slowing down a team that has been hot offensively all season. That is what No. 17 USC Trojans did to No. 20 Nebraska earlier today in Lincoln.
Coming into the game, the Cornhuskers had averaged 89.6 points per game, scoring 80 or more in all 12 games leading up to today. That streak ended as USC held them to just 66 points. Britt Prince, who leads the Huskers, still finished right on her average with 18 points but they were not easy to come by.
So what did the Trojans do that was so effective? Mainly, they just didn’t allow Nebraska any room to settle in and get comfortable. There were times in the first and second quarters where Nebraska got their shots off, but were never able to just keep a constant flow of offense.
“I think we have a really good defensive team. I think we have good individual defenders who take pride in it, and we really worked this week on our team defense. We wanted to put them under duress,” said Coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
“Their offense is too good if you let them be comfortable, so we tried to pressure the point of attack. We tried to make sure, you know, Britt is really good and I think makes them go. We tried to make sure that she couldn’t just pick us apart seamlessly. I mean, she still ended up with 18 points and 7 assists, so obviously she’s elite.”
The Huskers finished the game with 16 turnovers, and USC turned those into 27 points. When you break down how the Trojans were able to win this game, it really came down to complete effort on the defensive end and on the boards. Nebraska was outworked in the 50/50 areas, and that made a huge difference.
“I think that we tried to make it difficult for them. We tried to make catches tough. We tried not to let them get anything easy in transition, and I thought, overall, we did a pretty good job of that,” said Gottlieb.
On the offensive side, things didn’t start off great for the Trojans, nor Nebraska. In the first half, USC was 1-for-10 behind the three point line, but only had a two point deficit to overcome. It didn’t take long into the third quarter for the Trojans to burst onto the scene and begin to roll.
One of the key things was getting Londynn Jones in space to make some shots, and she did exactly that. Jones hit three consecutive three pointers for the Trojans in the third quarter to open up a nine point lead shortly after half.
“I mean, nothing magical. I said I know our threes will drop. And then we tried to get Londynn into a little bit more space. She didn’t get very many shots off in the first half,” Gottlieb explained.
“Really it was just the pace of our offense and that ball movement, and she found her way to it. But I do know that we have a team that’s capable of making threes, and we tried to get the ball flowing so that we could get open ones.”
Kennedy Smith came up huge, scoring 17 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and recording 6 assists. The 6’1″ guard achieved season highs in points and rebounds, and the fact that all nine rebounds were defensive rebounds shows how they were able to limit Nebraska’s chances.
Jazzy Davidson, who had battled all game long, experienced cramps later in the game. Even when her shots weren’t falling in the beginning, she contributed in other areas and finished with a solid stat line: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 assists, and 1 steal.
Gottlieb was asked about her cramping issues after the game.
“Well, I think it was a hard fought, tough game. We try to keep everyone hydrated, but I think cramps are part of basketball when a kid is expending that much energy,” she said. “We’ll make sure we get it figured out. But yes, I’m pretty sure it was just a cramping issue in her calf.”
This was a hard fought battle, and this is what is expected in the Big Ten. This conference is deep with great talent, and I look forward to seeing it all play out as the season goes on.
If you look at the current NET top 25, the Big Ten holds nine of those spots, with a few more teams sitting in the 30s. USC will have more Quad 1 opportunities coming up very soon, starting with UCLA on Saturday, Oregon next Tuesday, and Minnesota on January 11.
Buckle up for a fun January ahead, and rest of the season.
