South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson drove into the paint within the third quarter. As she went up for the layup, she was met by USC guard Kennedy Smith, who rose up and swatted the ball so laborious into the stands that it knocked the hat off a fan sitting a pair rows deep within the Crypto.com Enviornment crowd.
That ended up being the spotlight of the Trojans’ second half.
They’d been on this state of affairs earlier than. Of their most up-to-date sport at No. 9 North Carolina State, USC trailed by eight with 9:48 left to play earlier than pulling off a comeback victory. And on Saturday evening, the Trojans discovered themselves right here once more: down 10 to South Carolina, the No. 2 workforce within the nation, heading into the ultimate body.
No. 8 USC didn’t make it straightforward on South Carolina. They pressured turnovers. They made their free throws. Nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient as South Carolina did simply sufficient of the little issues to flee with a 69-52 win at Crypto.com Enviornment.
Smith led USC in scoring with 12 factors to associate with three assists. Kara Dunn was the one different Trojan in double figures with 10 factors and three rebounds. South Carolina had 4 gamers rating in double figures, led by Joyce Edwards’ 17 factors. South Carolina held USC freshman star Jazzy Davidson to eight factors on four-of-11 taking pictures from the sector.
The Gamecocks (4-0) got here out sloppy with six first half turnovers and taking pictures simply 33% from the ground, however the Trojans (2-1) couldn’t capitalize. Their taking pictures proportion (36%) was virtually as dangerous by the primary two quarters they usually had been out-rebounded 27-20 as South Carolina scored 9 second likelihood factors on 9 first-half offensive boards.
USC guard Jazzy Davidson loses the ball whereas driving to the basket in opposition to South Carolina on Saturday evening.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Instances)
The cracks began to point out within the second half, when South Carolina opened with a 10-2 run to offer USC a double-digit deficit. The Gamecocks outscored the Trojans 23-15 within the third.
South Carolina constructed on each benefit that they had from the primary half. Their plus-seven in rebounds ballooned to plus-24. They went from 9 offensive rebounds to 21, and whereas they nonetheless completed the sport with 16 turnovers, they pressured with 16 factors off USC’s 13 turnovers.
