USC Women’s Basketball sweeps Arizona schools, clinches second place in Pac-12

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USC Women’s Basketball sweeps Arizona schools, clinches second place in Pac-12

By Adam Bradford
2 months ago

The Women of Troy wrapped up their regular season with a record of 23-5 and will now head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament.

Prior to this weekend, it had been 30 years since USC Women’s Basketball won 23 or more games in a season.

After a successful weekend in the desert, however, that drought is no more. After outlasting Arizona 95-93 in a double overtime Thursday night in Tuscon, the Women of Troy easily handled Arizona State 70-55 Saturday afternoon in Tucson. The victory over the Sun Devils was USC’s 23rd of the season—their most in a year since the Trojans reached the Elite Eight in 1993-1994.

USC also officially wrapped up second place in the Pac-12 Conference. The Trojans will now head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament, where they will have a first round bye and play their first game Thursday evening.

For much of Thursday’s game, however, all of that appeared in serious jeopardy. With two minutes left to play, USC trailed Arizona 67-60. But the Women of Troy continued to Fight On, ending regulation on an 11-4 to send the game to overtime. After two periods of OT, the Trojans finally prevailed when Arizona’s potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out.

With superstar freshman guard Juju Watkins having a poor game by her own lofty standards with “only” 20 points, it was junior center Rayah Marshall who stepped up. Marshall led the Trojans with 26 points and 11 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the season. It was Marshall’s key free throw with four seconds remaining that sealed the deal for USC.

Two days later, no such heroics were needed as the Trojans rolled over Arizona State. Watkins and Marshall each recorded double-doubles, with the freshman racking up 26 points and 12 rebounds and the veteran adding 15 of each.

The Women of Troy finished the regular season with a record of 23-5, including a 13-5 mark in conference play. USC will now head to the Pac-12 Tournament in Vegas, where they will be the No. 2 seed.

After enjoying a first-round bye, the Trojans will play a quarterfinal matchup Thursday evening against the winner of No. 7 seed Arizona vs. No. 10 seed Washington. Tipoff is set for 6:00 PM PST.