Women of Troy Drop Home Game to Huskies
The USC women's basketball team was unable to complete a perfect three game homestand as they fell to Washington 67-61 Sunday at the Galen Center. Despite having four players in double figures and a nine point lead in the second half, the Women of Troy were unable to overcome inconsistent play down the stretch.
Senior guard Ashley Corral hit five threes as part of a 19 point effort while playing 38 of the game's 40 minutes. Corral hit consecutive three-pointers and added an assist in transition as part of an 8-0 USC run that gave the Women of Troy a nine point lead with 12 minutes remaining. But the Huskies answered with a 18-4 run which gave Washington a five point lead with 2:31 to play. USC cut the lead down to as little as one but Washington held on the rest of the way for the six point victory.
Cassie Harberts had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans, and Briana Gilbreath and Desiree Bradley added 10 points each. Freshman guard Jazmine Davis led the way for the Huskies with 26 points, while center Regina Rogers contributed 13 points and 7 rebounds and Mollie Williams provided 14 points and 11 rebounds.
USC shot 35.9 percent from the field and went 9-23 from behind the arc. Washington shot a similar 37.3 percent from field and 7-14 from three-point range. Rebounding was also very balanced as USC edged out Washington 39-38 in that department. But the difference in the game came at the free throw line. The Women of Troy only got to the line 10 times and converted only six of those attempts, while the Huskies were 22 of 27 from the charity stripe.
The disparity in free throw attempts came as a result of the disparity in physicality. USC head coach Michael Cooper commented after the game about his team's lack of a "killer instinct" and said that until they find it, he only expects more losses in the future.
It seemed as if the Women of Troy had everything in order as they opened the game on a 9-0 run and had the Huskies looking desperate. But Washington rallied to take the lead at 16-15. USC regained the lead and built it to an eight point advantage before Washington finished the first half on a 5-0 run to make it 37-34 at the half. The game featured five lead changes and two ties.
The loss dropped USC to 6-5 in the Pac-12 and 12-10 overall. The team heads north for road games at Stanford and California on February 9 and February 11 respectively before returning home for a matchup with the rival UCLA Bruins on February 19.
