Women of Troy fall to Cal for second straight defeat
The Women of Troy suffered two heart-wrenching losses over the weekend, falling to No. 4 Stanford 64-59 on Friday after being up by as much as 16 points in the first half before losing to No. 18 California 76-67 on Sunday.
Senior day · USC senior forward Cassie Harberts scored 18 points in yesterday’s loss to Cal. Every senior scored in the team’s final home game. – Ricardo Galvez | Daily Trojan
Despite another victory for the Cardinal (25-2, 14-1), who claimed at least a share of the Pac-12 title, the Women of Troy (16-12, 9-7) showed much improvement since their last game against Stanford, a 27-point loss on Jan. 27.
Decked out in their special pink uniforms for Breast Cancer Awareness, with Lisa Leslie sitting courtside, the Women of Troy battled until the end, playing a hard-fought game against one of the top teams in the country. But the combination of an inability to knock down high percentage shots in the paint and allowing the Cardinal’s best weapon, Chiney Ogwumike (27 points), to dominate in the post led to another USC defeat.
“I felt we started the game with great intensity, focus and drive,” said USC head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. “[But] we couldn’t sustain that for two halves. In the second half I thought we came out, we were a little tired, and we started to not execute as much.”
USC had no answer for Ogwumike, who was penetrating the basket, knocking down jumpers and leading the charge back on defense. Going into halftime, however, the Women of Troy seemed as though they had a handle on the perennial national title contenders, leading 37-30.
As expected, on offense, senior forward Cassie Harberts was double-teamed the entire game. As a result, Harberts slightly struggled, making just 5 of 16 shots from the field for 12 points. Junior guard Ariya Crook had to pick up the scoring load, pouring in 24 points.
The start of the second half was the beginning of the end for the Women of Troy, who came out looking like an entirely different team. Solid offensive rebounding helped keep the Women of Troy alive, but their lackluster offensive execution helped the Cardinal escape with a win.
As Stanford locked down its efforts, USC slumped to 22 shooting percentage from the floor in the second half, finishing the game at 36 percent while Stanford wrapped things up at 45 percent. The Women of Troy looked mentally and physically exhausted, something they admitted after the game.
“We were tired in the second half,” Crook said. “The shots we took in the first half, we couldn’t make them in the second half because either our legs were gone or our focus was not there.”
In the final minutes of the game, the Women of Troy attempted their last effort to pull off the upset. Crook knocked down a huge three-pointer with 18 seconds left on the clock to put the Women of Troy within four. But Stanford guard Bonnie Samuelson knocked down two free throws before Alexyz Vaioletama missed a three-point heave to give the game its final six-point margin.
USC hoped to rebound against Cal, but Senior Day for the Women of Troy did not end up as they would have liked, as the squad was outpaced by a determined California squad at the Galen Center.
USC took the first lead of the game, but Cal fired back with a strong effort from the floor in the first half. The Bears hit at a 52 percent clip through the first 20 minutes of play, while USC was at 43 percent to trail Cal 34-30 at the break. The Bears kept that pace rolling through the second half as well, finishing up the game at 51 percent with USC just off the mark at 44 percent. Cal also won out on the boards 38-30.
The Bears started the second half with a 12-0 surge to take a 46-30 lead. Desiree Bradley snapped the run with a score down low with 16:15 on the clock. USC got the deficit down to single digits in the last two minutes, but didn’t get closer than nine to the stubborn Bears. Cal was comfortably in the double bonus while holding only five fouls of its own as the game ground down to a final 76-67 Cal victory.
USC now heads off to Utah and Colorado for the final week of regular season action. The Trojans will visit the Utes for a rare Thursday clash at 7 p.m. MT before heading to Boulder, Colo. to take on the Buffs at 12 p.m. MT on Sunday. After suffering three losses in a row, the Women of Troy are now squarely on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.
“We have to win some games and do well in our [conference] tournament to be considered as a team that makes it to the NCAA,” Cooper-Dyke said. “I think we understand that, and I think we’re up for the challenge.”