There wasn’t precisely proof of idea, within the spring of 2021, to persuade Rayah Marshall to stay with USC’s new coach. Lindsay Gottlieb had spent the previous three seasons within the NBA. USC, as soon as a ladies’s hoops powerhouse, had spent the previous three a long time toiling in relative obscurity. All Gottlieb needed to promote Marshall was a imaginative and prescient of what USC may very well be.
Happily for Gottlieb, Marshall might see what she noticed then. Nearly 4 years later, as Marshall emerged from the Galen Heart tunnel for her last regular-season dwelling recreation, that imaginative and prescient was nearly totally realized. The previous Lynwood Excessive star had been there for all of it — the brutal 12-16 debut, the triumphant return to the NCAA match in 2022, the arrival of JuJu Watkins and the sudden ascent that adopted.
Marshall had been the spine of that breakthrough, the sturdy basis on which it had been constructed. Alongside the best way, the 6-4 middle had been content material to do the soiled work, swatting photographs and vacuuming up the glass as others draped themselves within the glory. However as the entire of Galen Heart stood in her honor Sunday, Marshall smiled large and flexed to the group, earlier than elevating a bursting bouquet of pink roses into the air.
Marshall definitely received her flowers Sunday in an 76-66 win over No. 25 Illinois, delivering a trademark efficiency befitting her 4 years at USC. The senior tallied her fourth double-double of the season, stuffing the statsheet with not simply 12 factors and 13 rebounds but in addition 5 assists and 4 steals — each of which had been workforce highs.
These alternatives had been fewer and farther between for Marshall over the previous 12 months, as Watkins rose to stardom and Kiki Iriafen stepped in as one of many nation’s greatest secondary weapons.
Nevertheless it was Marshall who jolted the No. 4 Trojans again to life Sunday, pulling them out of one of many worst capturing slumps of their season. USC had missed 14 in a row from the sphere between the second and third quarters, giving Illinois ample probability to climb again and take a 42-41 lead halfway by the third.
Illinois’ Genesis Bryant, middle, is fouled whereas capturing between USC’s Clarice Akunwafo, left, and guard JuJu Watkins throughout the first half Sunday.
(William Liang / Related Press)
However then USC unleashed a full-court press, with Marshall and her unusual size on the frontline. Iriafen discovered Marshall below the ring for a straightforward bucket. Just a few seconds later, Marshall stepped in entrance of an Illinois move for a steal, one in all 4 she had Sunday. The steal was a breakaway lay-in, which was a breakaway run for USC.
The group roared. Marshall smiled. All the stress of a season-worst droop slipped away. USC hit six of seven from the sphere and fired out to a nine-point lead. It stored rising from there.
USC appeared primed to pummel Illinois early, because the Trojans dominated the paint, hitting two-thirds of their makes an attempt within the first quarter. Watkins opened with eight fast factors, together with Iriafen. It appeared seemingly USC would merely journey its two stars the remainder of the best way, prefer it had so usually earlier than.
Each had their probabilities. However Watkins hit simply one in all her six makes an attempt from the sphere within the second half. She nonetheless scored 22 factors, whereas Iriafen added 22.
However it will take greater than that stellar duo to down Illinois. And like she had for the three seasons earlier than this, Marshall stepped into the void, setting the tone in the identical she had from the starting.
