For a short while, things looked perilous for the USC women's basketball team on Monday night in their second round game against the University of Kansas.
However, the Women of Troy regrouped in the fourth quarter to take a convincing 73-55 win.
At halftime, the Trojans led 33-24, but had gone from the 8:06 mark of the second quarter to the 3:49 mark without a bucket. McKenzie Forbes ended the drought with a triple from the right wing on a pass from star freshman JuJu Watkins, one of her five assists on the night.
Jayhawk freshman S'Mya Nichols, who scored a team-high 22 points, kept her side in it, a right hand lay-up off a nice jump stop forcing a Trojan timeout with 5:50 to go in the third, the score now an eight-point Kansas deficit, 43-35. Out of the timeout, Holly Kersgieter hit a free-throw line jumper to get the Jayhawks within six.
After a drive by Watkins resulted in a foul and one out of two free throws, Forbes hit on a transition triple to extend the lead to 10, 47-37. Not to be outdone, Nichols drove, took contact, and completed the three-point play to cut the lead to five at 47-42. Nichols hit another layup shortly after to cut the lead to three, a quick 7-0 run which was the result of tough defense and rebounding for Kansas. Free-throws from Kersgieter got the Jayhawks within one, 47-46.
On the next possession, Watkins rose up and drilled a triple from the top of the arc, ending the Kansas run and giving USC a four-point cushion. At the end of three quarters, the star freshman had 19 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Nichols had 18 through the first 30 minutes.
To open the final frame, Kayla Padilla hit from beyond to get the Trojan lead back to 10. With just under eight minutes to go, Clarice Akunwafo scored down low to get the advantage to 12. Jayhawk Taiyanna Jackson, who put together an exceptional performance of 10 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, scored inside to get the deficit back to 10. Watkins, though, connected on an inside jumper on the next possession, and a slick inside pass from Watkins to Kaitlyn Davis forced a Kansas timeout, the road team down 14 with 6:12 remaining.
USC never looked back, quickly getting the lead to 18 with an inside layup from Akunwafo and then free throws from Forbes. Watkins, with just over two minutes remaining, nailed a three from the left wing for her 26th point, making the score 71-52. For her final points of the night, Watkins hit a pull-up jumper off the glass.
The Trojans ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, their interior defense, inside play on offense, and Watkins' proficiency proving too much for the Jayhawks to handle.
Watkins, still just 18, will carry the women's college basketball mantle with Caitlyn Clark set for the WNBA. Watkins' 28 was a game high, and Forbes finished with 20.
In the first and fourth quarters, USC outscored Kansas a combined 37-18. Shooting 37.3 percent from the field to the Jayhawks' 35.7, the biggest difference in the game was each side's success from beyond, with the Trojans making 13 of 30 attempts and Kansas just three out of 10. The Jayhawks' Nichols, who averaged 15.2 points on 46.6 percent shooting in the regular season, is part of an impressive young women's college basketball group that will lead it into the next few years.
USC will play fifth-seeded Baylor University on Saturday from Portland, OR in the Sweet 16.
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