Kennedy Smith may really feel her physique dragging. It was late December, and she or he’d simply returned from a month-long harm absence. She was nonetheless getting her legs again, nonetheless looking for her footing in her first season at USC. However there was no time for that right here, not with Paige Bueckers and Connecticut pushing the tempo, testing each inch of the Trojans’ protection.
Nonetheless fatigued she may need felt, nobody may inform that day. The freshman had performed simply 4 video games at USC to that time, however even then performed a vital function in lifting the Trojans previous the Huskies, all whereas on a minutes restriction.
To Beth Burns, the architect of USC’s protection, it was basic Kennedy.
“What she does, she works four times as hard as some other people on the floor because of what we’re asking her to do,” Burns mentioned. “She takes it on and then some.”
4 months later, as a rematch with No. 2 seed Connecticut awaits within the Elite Eight, Smith should shoulder greater than ever within the wake of JuJu Watkins’ season-ending harm. In USC’s Candy 16 win over Kansas State, she was the Trojans’ catalyst on offense, scoring 11 of their first 13 factors and main the crew with 19. Nevertheless it’s her protection that might want to make a distinction Monday, as a doable head-to-head matchup with Bueckers beckons with a Closing 4 bid on the road.
For any who may need forgotten, Bueckers reminded in a win over Oklahoma what makes her probably the most dynamic scorers in all of school basketball. She performed simply seven minutes of the fourth quarter, but scored 19 factors in that stretch, practically matching the Sooners’ total second-half output. She would end with 40, a profession excessive, only a day after asserting she’d declare for the WNBA draft, the place she’s anticipated to be the No. 1 decide.
Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers controls the ball whereas pressured by Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst through the second half.
(Younger Kwak / Related Press)
Lindsay Gottlieb, USC’s coach, actually wanted no reminder of Bueckers’ greatness. She carried Connecticut previous her Trojans in final yr’s Elite Eight, scoring 28 and knocking down 10 rebounds. Once they met once more in Storrs in December, Bueckers nonetheless managed 22 in a USC win. Albeit much less effectively.
“Paige has been an incredible player for years now,” Gottlieb mentioned. “She does it efficiently. It’s her ability to score, her ability to pass and involve others to move without the basketball, and I think what we’re seeing a little differently now … it’s an urgency, right? Not that she’s not been urgent before, but you see it on her face. Like, there’s no more waiting. It can’t be, OK, next time or next time. It’s right now.”
Once they met the primary time this season, it was Watkins who most frequently chased Bueckers. With out Watkins, that function will presumably fall to Smith, the Trojans finest on-ball defender.
Gottlieb assured Sunday that it may’t be only one particular person attempting to sluggish Bueckers. However Bueckers isn’t about to take Smith and her protection without any consideration, both, even when she doesn’t know for positive how a lot Smith will likely be defending her.
“You would think she is not a freshman the way she plays defense — just her mentality, her tenacity, her length, her agility, her speed, her lateral movement,” Bueckers mentioned. “She does a really good job of anticipating as well. She has great defensive instincts. She’s a great defensive player.”
USC’s Kennedy Smith, proper, guards Kansas State’s Serena Sundell through the Trojans’ win within the Candy 16 of the NCAA event on Saturday.
(Younger Kwak / Related Press)
There’s the remainder of the Huskies’ offense past Bueckers to fret about too. Freshman Sarah Sturdy was stellar of their December assembly, main the best way with 22 factors and 13 rebounds. Guard Azzi Fudd performed simply eight minutes in that as she labored her method again from harm, however assured this week that she feels “completely different”, which means the Huskies may have their full wholesome complement of scorers at their disposal.
USC received’t have that very same luxurious with out Watkins. Even its second-leading scorer, Kiki Iriafen, was rendered principally ineffective in opposition to Kansas State’s fixed double groups, leaving Smith and fellow freshman Avery Howell to hold the load offensively.
“My confidence is not shaken,” Iriafen assured Sunday after being held to a season-low seven factors within the Candy 16. “It’s one game, and it’s a new day. We have a new day to fight. I think as a team beating UConn already gives us a lot of confidence, but we’re not cocky. We understand that they’re a great team. They’re kind of playing at their best right now, and we’re [missing] a huge piece. But I think for us, when there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Nobody has embodied that sentiment this season greater than Smith. However her teammates may see that from the day she arrived at USC final summer time.
“She was just tenacious,” Iriafen mentioned.
“It’s non-stop,” added Rayah Marshall.
So it was no shock within the remaining minutes Saturday, with USC up simply three, to see the freshman poke away a steal to seal it. By that time, she’d performed 35 unrelenting minutes. She was drained.
However at a very powerful juncture of USC’s season, Smith confirmed no indicators of slowing. Burns, having identified her for some time now, hadn’t anticipated something much less.
“When you can think that quick and move that quick and be so powerful,” Burns mentioned, “you put it all together and that’s what you get.”
