USC Trojans march into Sweet 16 with 73-55 win over Kansas
The No. 1 seed USC Trojans are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1994 after Lindsay Gottlieb’s program ran away from the Kansas Jayhawks over the final 11 minutes Monday night’s Round of 32 game in Galen Center to secure a 73-55 win.
Just like in USC’s opening game of the tournament against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, the Trojans jumped out to a big lead thanks to dominant first-quarter defense. USC led Kansas 17-9 after 10 minutes as the Jayhawks did not score for the final 4:39 of the quarter.
USC’s lead eventually grew to 24-9 as JuJu Watkins outscored Kansas 11-9 to that point. The Jayhawks settled into the game at that point and during a nervy period of the third quarter, eventually chipped the USC lead all the way down to 47-46 with 1:22 remaining in the third.
But JuJu Watkins rose to the occasion, drilling a three-pointer and hitting two free throws to push the Trojans’ lead to 52-46. Kayla Padilla hit a three to open the fourth quarter as part of a 17-2 USC run and the rout was back on. USC outscored Kansas 20-9 in the fourth quarter as the Trojans’ depth and Watkins’ shotmaking was too much for the Jayhawks.
Watkins finished with a game-high 28 points to go along with 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals. McKenzie Forbes continued to prove opponents cannot take her lightly as she scored 20 points and hit a career-high six three-pointers, to go along with three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Clarice Akunwafo provided a spark off the bench with five points, six blocks and nine rebounds. With Kansas running a zone defense in an attempt to limit Watkins, USC grabbed 17 offensive rebounds with Akunwafo piling up six.
USC moves on to the Sweet 16 and will take on the No. 5 seed Baylor Bears as the regional shifts to Portland, Oregon and the Moda Center.
Baylor beat No. 4 Virginia Tech 75-72 to advance. The Trojans and Bears will tip off on Saturday, March 30 at 2:30 pm PT. The game will air live on ESPN.
In the bottom portion of USC’s regional, No. 2 seed Ohio State was taken out by No. 7 Duke, 75-63. The Blue Devils will play No. 3 UConn, which beat No. 3 Syracuse 72-64.
