Jazzy Davidson wiped away tears using the sleeve of her warm-up jacket during a postgame press conference. USC had just lost to No. 13 Ohio State, 88-83.
“We’re all competitors and we all want to win,” she told reporters. “It’s just a hard loss, but it’s fine. We’ll learn from it.”
Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb patted Davidson’s leg in a comforting gesture. The Trojans (17-10 overall, 9-7 Big Ten) have dug deep and shed tears in order to find themselves this season, and have learned a lot along the way.
This final road trip of the season has been no exception, and with one away game left on the regular season schedule against Penn State (10-17, 3-13) on Wednesday, USC is putting the final touches on a challenging Big Ten season that has prepared it for the NCAA Tournament.
“This is Big Ten basketball,” Gottlieb said. “You get the opportunity to play a Top 10 team on the road in February to get yourself ready for all the basketball that’s coming.”
Over 8,000 fans had come to Schottenstein Center in Columbus to watch the Buckeyes play the Trojans, who have seen an average attendance of 4,477 fans this season. The Ohio State game created an environment that Gottlieb thinks could benefit her team later on.
“Look at this crowd,” Gottlieb said. “And this crowd gets to see our team. We draw really well on the road, our players get this atmosphere. We’re likely to be in the NCAA tournament, so we’re grateful for all the things it brings us.”
Davidson scored 32 points in the game, and her career-high effort marked the first time that a USC freshman had scored over 30 points in a game since JuJu Watkins did so against UCLA in 2024.
The performance was enough to earn Davidson her fourth straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor, but that doesn’t wipe away the pain of USC’s sixth road loss of the season. The Trojans can quickly bounce back, however, with Penn State slated for Wednesday.
It could be a way for USC to hit reset while preparing for No. 2 UCLA on Sunday, while also finishing the final road trip of the season on a high note.
Penn State has won three of its last four games, but also lost 11 straight games earlier in the season. The Nittany Lions have been inconsistent as a team, but have two of the highest-scoring individuals in the conference in 5-foot-8 guard Kiyomi McMiller (21.6 ppg) and 6-foot-6 center Gracie Merkle (19.3 ppg).
Merkle also owns the highest shooting percentage in the Big Ten, making 73.3% of her shots from the floor and she pulls down 8.3 rebounds per game. She dominates in the post, sealing the paint to create high-percentage shots.
Laura Williams has risen to become USC’s most forceful post presence as of late and was the Trojans’ leading rebounder in the last four games. Her length and determination to get the ball will be an asset against Merkle and the Nittany Lions.
Controlling the ball will also be a point of emphasis for USC. The Trojans turned the ball over 25 times against Ohio State, and the Buckeyes scored 31 points off of those turnovers.
“You can’t draw up a script to come to Ohio State and withstand that,” Gottlieb said. “We fought like heck to do so.”
USC (17-10 overall, 9-7 Big Ten) at PENN STATE (10-17, 3-13)
When: Wednesday, 3 p.m.
Where: Rec Hall, University Park, Pennsylvania
TV/Radio: Big Ten+/USCTrojans.com/Listen
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