LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team frantically did all it could to keep its head above water on Thursday night at the Galen Center.
The Trojans pushed on defense, battled through contact on offense and fought for rebounds no matter where they were. They had an offensive output that was nearly equal to No. 12 Maryland’s in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
USC dropped its fourth straight game, falling to the Terrapins, 62-55. The Trojans were without 6-foot-1 starting guard Kennedy Smith, who is currently day-to-day with a lower leg injury, for the third game in a row.
Kara Dunn scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting for USC (10-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) and added five rebounds and five assists. Jazzy Davidson scored all of her 12 points in the first half on a poor shooting night (5 for 23 from the field) and grabbed five boards and dished out five assists.
USC’s defense had to work around a Maryland offense that was almost always in motion – except for 6-3 guard Yarden Garzon, who stationed herself on the perimeter waiting for a teammate to kick out to her for a shot.
The Trojans were equally diligent on the other end of the court. Jazzy Davidson hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 7-all and Laura Williams made a layup to give USC the lead and finish off a 7-0 scoring run.
Another seven unanswered points propelled USC ahead of Maryland (17-2, 5-2), and a 3-pointer from Dunn gave the Trojans a 20-14 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
After three losses, USC was in desperate need of players other than Dunn and Davidson to step up.
Laura Williams answered the call at the start of the second quarter when she made a layup and, on the Trojans’ next possession, dished a pass to Malia Samuel for a jump shot and a 24-18 lead.
The final five minutes of the second quarter were a battle. Maryland sent the ball to Garzon for a 3-pointer, then Gerda Raulusaityte countered with a layup to keep USC ahead. The teams traded baskets until the halftime buzzer and the Terrapins came within a point of tying the score, down 28-27 at the break.
Maryland scored 11 points on free throws in the third quarter and used three of them to get ahead 46-42 at the end of the frame. Malia Samuels fouled Addi Mack on a layup, then Kyndal Walker made two shots from the line.
The Terrapins played most of the third without starting forward Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu, who left near the start of the period with an injury. Davidson, who shot 0 for 14 in the final three quarters, briefly left the game in the third as well, but returned for the start of the fourth.
Regardless of who was on the court, USC kept shooting. The Trojans had taken more than 50 shots before the fourth quarter even began, pushing for a high volume against a Maryland defense that was allowing just 56.8 points per game heading into the contest, the third-lowest mark in the conference.
Dunn maintained a hot hand and hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the Trojans put together another 7-0 surge. Maryland continued to tack on points with free throws, and managed to get starting guard Londynn Jones and Davidson in foul trouble in the process.
Ozzy-Momodu (10 points, nine rebounds) had a key block of a Maria Samuels shot with 33 seconds left, and Jones fouled out of the game with 20 seconds to play.
USC was down by four points with 30 seconds left but was unable to catch the Terrapins. The Trojans were outscored 16-13 in the last quarter.
Neither team led by more than eight points after the first quarter.
Both schools shot poorly from 3-point range, with the Trojans at 5 for 32 while Maryland was 4 for 16.
The Trojans’ four-game losing streak is more games than they lost all of last season.
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