LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team picked up its second straight win by beating Rutgers 71-39 on Sunday afternoon.
The Trojans (13-9 overall, 5-6 Big Ten) are now one win shy of hitting the .500 mark this season with seven games left in the conference season.
Kara Dunn scored a game-high 18 points, breaking her seven-game streak of scoring over 20 points in a game. Jazzy Davidson scored 16 points while pulling down nine rebounds and grabbing three steals, and Laura Williams had nine rebounds off the bench.
Lack of efficient shooting from both teams made it difficult for either Rutgers (9-13, 1-10) or USC to maintain an advantage on the scoreboard early on. The Trojans shot 26.2% from the field in the first half, making 11 out of 42 shots, while the Scarlet Knights shot 31%.
USC strung together seven unanswered points in the first quarter to pull ahead of Rutgers 12-11, but Imani Lester (11 points) made two straight jump shots to put the Knights out front again with less than a minute remaining in the frame.
Malia Samuels, who was back after missing one game due to an undisclosed injury, started off the second quarter with a corner three and the Trojans and Knights traded points until USC put together a 12-1 scoring run.
Samuels grabbed a steal with 3:31 on the clock and dished the ball to Kennedy Smith — a key player in connecting the offense who also finished with 11 points for herself. Smith made a read to get the ball in Laura Williams’ hand, and she drained a jump shot for a 10-point lead at 29-19.
Even though the shots weren’t falling, consistent rebounding kept them in the game. USC pulled down 33 boards in the first half alone compared to Rutgers’ 18, and Laura Williams led the Trojans’ effort with 10.
USC pulled ahead for good in the third quarter, and its shooting efficiency skyrocketed. The Trojans were 9 for 11 from the floor while holding the Knights to just three made baskets and two free throws.
Rutgers was without leading scorer and starting forward Nene Ndiaye, as well as 6-foot-4 forward Yacine Ndiaye, for the game. Both were listed as “out” on the Big Ten pregame availability report.
Smith made a layup with 3:39 left in the third and made a defensive stop by knocking a Rutgers pass out of bounds when the Knights got the ball back. Londynn Jones added onto the 13-2 scoring run with a 3-pointer to keep the Trojans rolling.
USC gained over a 20-point lead when two made free throws by Samuels brought the score to 52-31. Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb began to pull starters from the game with 4:38 remaining in the final quarter, when the Trojans had a 64-33 lead.