Apart from JuJu Watkins, USC’s gamers have been struggling to seek out their shot.
A ten-point USC lead become a deficit in the course of the third quarter. With Kiki Iriafen caught on the bench in foul hassle, the Trojans wanted somebody to spark a rally.
Enter the all-too-reliable Rayah Marshall, the longest-tenured starter on the group.
She isn’t the flashiest participant and he or she’ll hardly ever be the main scorer with Watkins on the ground, however when USC wanted a bruising choice to pressure into the paint for second-chance appears to be like, the senior acquired the job accomplished towards Michigan on Sunday evening.
“Welcome to Big Ten basketball,” Marshall stated.
Stripping the ball from Michigan guard Jordan Hobbs with 5:05 remaining within the third quarter, the 6-foot-4 ahead compelled a shot up whereas barreling towards the basket. She acquired smacked, however the ball went in. The transformed three-point play was one among many Marshall made on her method to tying a season-high with 15 factors in No. 4 USC’s 78-58 victory over No. 23 Michigan at Galen Heart.
“The difference in Rayah’s leadership, just the growth she’s had from freshman year on, she can really listen, understand what I’m asking and then get other players to go along too,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb stated. “And everyone just was along for that. … Ray is the catalyst for [the third-quarter run].”
Marshall’s seven third-quarter factors and two assists drove the Trojans (12-1, 2-0) to a 10-point lead, serving to facilitate for Watkins, who led the sport with 31 factors (together with 13 on free throws). Iriafen scored 12 of her 18 factors in a dominating fourth-quarter effort earlier than fouling out with beneath two minutes left.
USC guard JuJu Watkins (12) collides with Michigan Wolverines guard Greta Kampschroeder (11) whereas driving to the basket Sunday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Instances)
“Being the competitor that I am, I just took [Gottlieb’s halftime message] to heart, and just tried to get my teammates to go out there with the same hunger and compete,” Marshall stated.
Michigan was with out star freshman and main scorer Syla Swords due to harm. The Trojans guards held the Wolverines’ second-leading scorer, freshman Olivia Olson, scoreless within the first half and to simply 11 factors. Hobbs led her group in scoring, with 14 of her 19 factors coming within the Wolverines’ second-quarter surge.
Freshman guard Kennedy Smith, in her second sport again from an undisclosed surgical procedure, was key to holding Michigan’s guards at bay. The previous Gatorade California Lady’s Basketball Participant of the 12 months co-led the group with three steals and performed lockdown protection in entrance of gamers from the Etiwanda Excessive lady’s basketball group — her alma mater — attending the sport.
“She’s an incredible defender,” Gottlieb stated of Smith. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a better defender coming in as a freshman. Just her mind, her understanding of defensive schemes and her physical ability. How quickly she’s come back from this injury is really special.”
USC held Michigan (10-3, 1-1 Massive Ten) to its lowest scoring complete of the season, with the Wolverines averaging 83.7 factors a sport coming into the competition.
USC guard Kennedy Smith steals the ball from Michigan guard Mila Holloway in the course of the first half Sunday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Instances)
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico credited the Wolverines’ offensive struggles to USC’s relentless press, with the Trojans utilizing Marshall to defend guards, creating confusion on inbound performs. The Wolverines didn’t rating as soon as off a fastbreak.
“Who wouldn’t want to see Rayah at the front of a press” Gottlieb stated in regards to the 8,043 followers in attendance, “or the way that we play with one another? We’re trying to put a good product on the floor that people want to come see.”
With one other Massive Ten contest on the horizon, Gottlieb stated she was grateful for the substantial vacation season crowd on a Sunday evening.
“It’s just not lost on me ever,” she stated. “To walk out there and see people in that upper row — Rayah and I were here when it was my family and hers. That’s it.”
USC finishes its homestand with a New 12 months’s Day contest towards Nebraska. No. 1 UCLA handily defeated the Cornhuskers 91-54 on Sunday.
