The No. 17 USC women’s basketball team is slated to return from a seven-day break from playing when it travels to unbeaten No. 20 Nebraska for a Big Ten Conference game on Monday.
The Trojans (9-3 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) received one final challenge before heading into the holiday break when they traveled to the Bay Area for a game against former Pac-12 opponent Cal, and even though USC is in a good place without star player Juju Watkins, there is still room to grow.
“To be able to take a punch in that third quarter and not be at our best and come back and stick together and find a way says a lot,” Gottlieb told reporters after the game. “It was a really, really gritty win and a good win for us going into the holidays.”
USC used a 6-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter to outperform the Golden Bears 18-12. The Trojans held Cal to 1-for-11 shooting from the 3-point line, had nine blocks, and forced 18 turnovers — which falls in line with the strong defense they’ve had all season.
Freshman Jazzy Davidson leads the conference in blocks with 2.5 per game and, as a team, the Trojans are averaging seven blocks per game. They’re also tied for eighth in the conference as a team in steals with 9.7 per game.
“Mainly, it was defensively,” Gottlieb said after the Cal game. “And we started getting back into tempo, and we got some things in transition. We had a couple transition looks that didn’t go, but it felt like the tide was turning back and that was keyed by our defense and the togetherness and effort of our players.”
Nebraska (12-0, 1-0) shot up three spots in the Dec. 22 AP poll after extending its unbeaten streak to 12 games. The Cornhuskers’ only Big Ten game so far this season was a 101-83 win over Penn State.
Their offensive makeup is comparable to USC’s. Davidson paces the team in scoring at 16.8 points a game, but other players like Londynn Jones, Kennedy Smith and Kara Dunn can also drive the offense when called upon.
Nebraska is a high-scoring team that averages 89.6 points per game and are led by 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Britt Prince’s 18.6 points. Prince is shooting 61.2% from the field and 61.2% from long range.
“Britt Prince carries our team at times, but we can turn to a lot of different places to get production,” head coach Amy Williams told reporters after beating California Baptist. “And that’s something that we’re excited for as we head into Big Ten play.”
The Huskers have had three different players lead the team in scoring in their last three games. Jessica Petrie led the Huskers against CBU with 17 points. Petra Bozan had a game-high 14 points in the game before that against Illinois State. Callin Hake put up 17 points against Omaha.
“What I’ve learned is that we can turn a lot of different places when we need production,” Williams told reporters.
Nebraska’s 6-foot-3 senior guard Eliza Maupin, who records 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game off the bench, is also expected to play against USC after missing the Cal Baptist game due to illness.
Seven out of 12 players on USC’s roster have experience on a Big Ten team, and five of those seven are underclassmen.
There’s room for the Trojans to grow, and Nebraska will be a good indicator of this team’s potential in the conference portion of the season.
“We’re still a young team, we’re still growing together,” Gottlieb told reporters. “I also think we’ve got a lot of dynamic players.”
No. 17 USC (9-3 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 20 NEBRASKA (12-0, 1-0)
When: Monday, noon
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
TV/Radio: Big Ten Plus, ESPN LA 710
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