USC’s defense is too much for Illinois despite sellout crowd

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The State Farm Center was packed with for the third sell-out in women’s basketball history on Sunday afternoon, and the fans were with the Illini through it all.

Illinois was down as much as 19, but made it a ballgame in the fourth. The comeback was just a little too late for the orange and blue as USC took the win 70-62.

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“[State Farm Center was] an unbelievable atmosphere,” said USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “It felt like a March game in February.”

The first half was all Trojans as the Illini could not buy a bucket and shot 30% from the floor. It seemed every time an Illini caught the ball there was immeidate pressure from the Trojans, who never let up switching on every ball screen.

“We are still learning, and we are still trying to figure out ourselves and how our starts can be,” said Illinois head coach Shauna Green. “We’ve had good starts and we’ve had bad starts, it’s not like all year we’ve had bad starts.”

About halfway through the third a flip switched for Illinois (16-8, 6-7 Big Ten), backed by the crowd, freshman Destiny Jackson scored 12 of her 17 in the second half and sparked the fire for her team.

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“I feel like I’ve found my groove in the offense,” Jackson said. “[I’ve been] learning how to run the team, and also to produce in that part of the game.”

Jackson finished the game flirting with a triple double logging 17 points, 8 assists, and 8 steals. She also shot an efficient 7-for-10 from the field and only had one turnover.

“It’s actually amazing what she’s done,” Green said. “She’s getting to the rim at ease. She’s so quick and so elusive, and obviously a great defender.”

These slow starts have been coming somewhat of a pattern. They have been making it a habit of going down big in the first half and clawing their way back into the game late. This was very clear in games on the road against Nebraska and Oregon, but this was the first time it has happened here in Champaign.

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Ultimately, the Trojans were protecting the hoop very well, keeping the Illini to shooting 39% from the field for the game, and forcing them to shoot 2-for-14 from three as a team.

“I don’t think they necessarily did anything, we did it to ourselves,” said sophomore Cearah Parchment. “We made the mistakes, defensively, offensively, it’s really on us at the end of the day.”

On offense USC (15-9, 7-6 Big Ten) was unstoppable, too. Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson had the best game of her career notching a career=high 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

The free throw line was another place where USC was able to take this game from Illinois. The Trojans shot more than 20% better from the line than the Illini.

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Another area that Illinois struggled in was in transition. While effective at times, the Trojans were able to break the Illini’s press often. This along with a lot of early turnovers for Illinois led to USC winning the transition points battle 12-5.

Sophomore Berry Wallace is the team’s leading scorer, but she had a rough day Sunday. This was because USC sophomore Kennedy Smith had her number all game. Wallace was held to 4-for-17 from the field, and Smith was able to log a career high 6 blocks.

Freshmen Naomi Benson had her most productive game of the season, playing 7 minutes and grabbing 4 huge rebounds during their run in the third quarter.

“Naomi has made a ton of improvement,” Green said. “I trust her now to put her in there, and for her to defend and rebound.”

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The former McDonald’s All-American has showed a lot of flashes so expect to see more of her as the season comes to an end.

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