INDIANAPOLIS — If the USC women’s basketball hoped to make a case for a favorable NCAA tournament seed, the Trojans did themselves no favors during the past two weeks culminating with Thursday’s Big Ten tournament loss.
The No. 9 seed Trojans let a second-round tournament contest against No. 8 seed Washington get out of hand in the third quarter, stumbling to a 76-64 loss at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. USC’s conference run ended quickly after the Trojans delivered one of their worst offensive outings of the season.
It was USC’s fourth consecutive loss, putting its NCAA tournament positioning in question.
USC (17-13, 9-10) didn’t make its first three-pointer until the 3:30 mark in the second quarter, just the Trojans’ fifth made basket of the game overall. The Trojans trailed 32-20 at the half while shooting just 25%.
Washington (21-9, 11-8) took a 20-point lead near the end of the third quarter while USC struggled to 1-for-7 shooting during that stretch.
USC made it a 10-point game with 1:51 to play as the Trojans’ aggressive half-court press forced Washington turnovers, but even the team’s 26-point fourth quarter couldn’t rescue it.
The Huskies and Trojans entered Thursday with the third and fourth best defenses in the conference, respectively. That didn’t deter a Washington offense that shot 50%, its fourth-best effort all season.
But USC was stymied and put up its fourth-worst shooting of the year at 31%. Point guard and Big Ten freshman of the year Jazzy Davidson shot 2-for-13 after briefly leaving the game in the first quarter with a right shoulder injury and playing the rest of the contest with it wrapped under her jersey. She didn’t see the floor again after the 7:12 mark in the fourth quarter.
Davidson said after the loss she is getting an MRI on her shoulder to determine the extent of the injury.
Washington outrebounded USC 43-26. Huskies guard Elle Ladine led the game with 25 points. Londynn Jones netted 19 for the Trojans.
USC entered Thursday boasting the No. 22 NET ranking in the country and will likely get an at-large NCAA tournament bid, but Thursday’s loss put a good seed in peril.
The Huskies will face No. 1 seed UCLA (28-1, 18-0) in the quarterfinal on Friday at 9 a.m.