No. 7 USC women bounce back from loss, rout Wisconsin

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer

MADISON, Wis. — The USC women’s basketball team regrouped before leaving the Midwest and heading back home.

Kiki Iriafen scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack as the seventh-ranked Trojans bounced back from a rare loss and never trailed in an 86-64 victory over Wisconsin on Wednesday night.

USC (20-2 overall, 10-1 Big Ten), which had 17 steals while forcing 24 Wisconsin turnovers, was finishing a two-game trip after its 15-game winning streak ended Sunday with a 76-69 loss at Iowa.

USC’s JuJu Watkins, who entered the game averaging 24.7 points to rank third in Division I, was held to a season-low 14 points in 26 minutes. Avery Howell also scored 14, Talia von Oelhoffen had 11 and Kayleigh Heckel added 10.

After shooting a season-low 35.4% from the floor against Iowa, USC returned to form Wednesday by shooting 50.7%.

Serah Williams scored 19 points and Carter McCray and Tess Myers added 12 each for Wisconsin (11-12, 2-10), which lost for the 10th time in 11 games to drop below .500 for the first time this season.

Williams, the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer behind Watkins and UCLA’s Lauren Betts, did everything she could to keep Wisconsin competitive. After shooting 0 for 7 in the first seven minutes, she was 8 for 13 the rest of the way.

After falling behind 13-3 early, Wisconsin trailed just 23-20 when Ronnie Porter missed a potential tying 3-pointer with less than four minutes left in the second quarter. That’s as close as the Badgers would get.

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Watkins made the game’s first basket but didn’t score again for more than 18 minutes. She scored five points during a 10-4 run over the last 1:39 of the second quarter to give USC a 39-28 halftime lead.

USC stayed in command the rest of the way, leading by as much as 24 points. The Trojan reserves outscored their Wisconsin peers 33-8.

USC had a 44-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 22-6 margin in fast-break points.

UP NEXT

USC hosts No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday at 6 p.m.

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