LOS ANGELES, CA — A win is a win.
It took every single one of the USC Trojans Women’s Basketball squad to come away with a tight-knit home win against the undefeated Washington Huskies, as the double-double performance from freshman Jazzy Davidson and the elite Trojans defense helped secure the 59-50 victory. With this victory, Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb notches her 100th coaching win in her tenure at USC, becoming the fastest to reach the 100-win milestone in program history.
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“I get goosebumps thinking how grateful I am being the coach here,” coach Gottlieb said in the postgame presser, expressing her gratitude to her team and coaching staff.
To open up their first Big Ten home opener of the 2025 season, the Women of Troy had trouble finding their rhythm offensively in the first quarter, shooting just 2-14 and starting the game 0-11 from the field. On the other side of the court, the Huskies were struggling just as much to find their footing, shooting 3-19 from the floor.
“I am really proud of the way we competed, especially the first quarter,” coach Gottlieb said despite the results on the shooting side for the Trojans. “I know that sounds crazy, but not to score for eight and a half minutes and not lose our spirit, and only be down by four, I think says a lot of who we’ve become.”
The Trojans quickly wiped off whatever bad mojo they had going from the first quarter, as they found themselves going on a 10-2 run to give the Women of Troy their first lead of the game, 17-16. Freshman Jazzy Davidson would take over offensively in the second quarter, scoring 6 points on 3-4 shooting, and eventually head into halftime tied with the Huskies, 22-22.
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The low-scoring affair between these two top 25 teams set the tone for every shot to be just as crucial as the last, with the 6,137 patrons in attendance at the Galen Center cheering even louder than they did in the first half to try and bolster the Women of Troy. From the 4:41 mark in the third quarter on, the Trojans did not falter and hardly made mistakes on either side of the floor, separating themselves from the Huskies as they went on a 12-2 run and regained a 37-29 lead.
The Women of Troy would cap off the fourth quarter efficiently, especially from the floor, as they shot 73% (8-11) on field goal attempts and ended the game on a 6-0 run in the quarter’s final minute of play. Davidson and Kennedy Smith led offensively with 6 fourth-quarter points, and for Davidson, she recorded a double-double (22 points and 12 rebounds) en route to the Trojans’ win.
“There was a huge emphasis on rebounding, obviously, so I think just going into the game with that mindset really helped me and my whole team,” Davidson said on the importance the team took towards rebounding this week in preparation for this game.
With this win, the Women of Troy improve to 7-2 on the young season and have a date with the No.1 ranked team in the country, the Connecticut Huskies, at the Galen Center for their white-out game.
