At the bitter end of a brutal January, Kennedy Smith put her head down, determined to get to the hoop. All month, USC had faded in the most unfortunate moments, letting games get away from them. There was the 16-point lead lost in Ann Arbor. The frustrating final five minutes against Oregon. The seven fourth-quarter turnovers at Minnesota.
The Trojans had lost six of their last seven entering Thursday, not far from the worst stretch of Lindsay Gottlieb’s tenure as coach. But as No. 8 Iowa climbed back in Thursday’s third quarter, threatening to deal USC another disappointing result, Smith, the Trojans’ sophomore leader, took matters into her own hands.
She drove once, then again, then again. Four times in a matter of three minutes, Smith attacked the hoop, carrying the weight of USC’s weeks-long slump on her shoulders as she did. When the Trojans’ attack finally let up, they were well out in front again, rolling to an 81-69 victory.
The Hawkeyes (18-3 overall, 9-1 Big Ten) had yet to lose in Big Ten play coming into Thursday, while Gottlieb’s Trojans (12-9, 4-6) had struggled to find a foothold in the conference. But it all finally came together at Galen Center in what was arguably USC’s best game of the season to date.
Smith would play mostly a bit part outside of those eight points at the game’s most critical juncture. The USC offense was led once again by Kara Dunn, who scored 24 points, 16 of which came in the first half.
Freshman Jazzy Davidson had one of her best games of the season as well, with 21 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals.
The Trojans flew out to an early lead on the heels of their three-point shooting, which had largely failed them since the start of Big Ten play. They’d shot under 30% from deep during that stretch of nine games, while also shooting the second-most three-pointers of any team in the conference.
That shooting slump suddenly snapped in the early going Thursday. USC hit five three-pointers in the first 10 minutes, its most of any quarter this season. By the end of the opening quarter, the Trojans led 28-13.
Iowa climbed quickly in the second, hitting five three-pointers to cut the Trojans’ halftime lead to just six. At one point, in the third quarter, the Hawkeyes drew to within three.
That was as close as they’d get. USC knocked down nine of its next 11 shots, while Iowa didn’t hit another shot from the perimeter until the fourth quarter. By then, USC had buried them too deeply to recover.
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