Entering a game unranked for the first time in the JuJu Watkins era seemed to motivate the USC women’s basketball team on Thursday night.
The Women of Troy have not been playing like one of the top 25 teams in the country of late, but they gave maximum effort despite a 62-55 loss to No. 12 Maryland that stretched their losing streak to four and dropped them to 3-5 in games against ranked opponents this season.
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“I thought we played our asses off,” Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. ”That doesn’t guarantee an outcome but I’ll take our effort every day. This one hurts. We laid it on the line but we didn’t do enough to win the game.”
Kara Dunn finished with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists and fellow guard Jazzy Davidson added 12 points, five assists and three steals for USC, which pulled even with 2:46 left but was outscored 8-1 the rest of the way.
The Trojans fell to 10-7 overall, 2-4 in the Big Ten.
“Outside of the fourth quarter I felt 10 times better than I felt in the past,” Dunn said. “We just have to keep it up. We’re going through growing pains.”
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Addi Mack scored 12 points and Yarden Garzon added 10 for the 12th-ranked Terrapins (17-2, 5-2), including a three-pointer with 2:38 left that put Maryland ahead for good. Garzon leads the Big Ten in threes made with 55.
“We shot horribly,” Gottlieb griped after watching her team make only 19 of 67 shots and go a dismal five of 32 from long range. “At times we were stagnant and could’ve gotten better looks but other times we had good shots, they just didn’t fall. We’re going through a tough stretch, but we’ll come out of it better than we are now.”
USC led by as many as eight in the first quarter but the Terrapins trimmed their deficit to one point by halftime and were ahead 46-42 after three quarters.
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“We’re without one of our key players and she’ll be coming back sooner than later,” Gottlieb added, referring to Kennedy Smith, who missed a third straight game with a lower leg injury suffered Jan. 3 against UCLA. “The nature of conference play is that you see different styles every night.”
USC was trying to avoid its first four-game losing streak since 2021-22 when it suffered a seven-game skid in Gottlieb’s first season at the helm.
“With Kennedy out I have to be aggressive,” Dunn added. “I’ve been in that position on other teams to do that when my number is called.”
Davidson had the hot hand early, netting nine of her team’s first 11 points and finishing with 12 in the first quarter alone, but went 0 for 14 the rest of the night.
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“I’m really proud of our toughness,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “Road wins are precious. This was two hungry teams and we knew what their mindset would be having lost three in a row. We relied on our defense and did a nice job at the free-throw line.”
Maryland was 22 of 26 from the line in a game that had 14 lead changes and 11 ties.
Sunday’s 63-62 defeat at Minnesota dropped USC out of the Associated Press poll for the first time since Watkins arrived on campus in 2023. The Trojans began her freshman year ranked No. 21. The star guard is out for the season while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
“We’re playing positions we’re not used to playing,” said guard Malia Samuels, who contributed five rebounds, two points and two blocks in 39 minutes. “We are still a young team. Everyone’s kind of growing.”
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The Terrapins (17-2, 5-2), who prevailed in their first game at Galen Center, continue their West Coast swing Sunday at No. 3 UCLA.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
