Women of Troy basketball snap losing streak

After suffering a five-game losing streak, the women’s basketball team bounced back with two Pac-12 wins against Colorado and Utah.

Teamwork was key to the team’s wins this weekend.  Redshirt sophomore guard Jordan Adams and senior forward Alexyz Vaioletama were the glue that kept the team together, racking up assists.

“We executed on both ends of the floor first half,” head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said. “I thought that set the tone of the game.”

Eight Women of Troy contributed points in the win against Utah on Friday. Freshman guard McKenzie Calvert led in scoring with 16 points and three steals. Senior forward Kaneisha Horn made a well-rounded effort, leading in defense with eight rebounds and scoring 11 points.

Ball movement and strong defense were the ingredients to the Women of Troy’s conquest over the Utes.

Though the Utes were the first to score, the Women of Troy started with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Courtney Jaco after both teams went scoreless for the first two minutes. Utah responded and maintained a lead. The Utes looked promising in the early minutes of the game, grabbing nine rebounds and three assists in the first six minutes.

“What impressed me the most was the defensive stops,” Cooper-Dyke said. “When we made that extra pass, it’s just a beautiful thing to watch.”

The tables quickly turned for Utah, as the Women of Troy went on an offensive rampage. Ball-sharing came easily for USC; the result was Adams earning three assists and a layup in three minutes. Calvert shot accurately behind the arc and in the inside; she earned five points within the same span of time.

USC’s defense kept the Utes on the outside, and scores in the paint were unsuccessful. The Women of Troy were very physical with Utes, gathering 10 personal fouls by the end of the first half.

The foul calls did not stop USC offensively, and junior guard Brianna Barrett kept the tempo fast and earned a layup along the way. These elements would lead the Women of Troy to a 15-point advantage at the half, 36-21.

At the beginning of the second, USC made up for missed shots with offensive rebounds and earned a field goal. Utah began to fill the deficit some, but the Women of Troy kept them at a sizeable distance.

“We did really good in transition,” Horn said. “We hadn’t been doing so good with our transition buckets and I think we pushed the ball well today.”

After a short dry spell, USC would score 11 points within a span of four minutes, compared to the four points Utah scored.

The Utes sent three Trojans to the line, increasing USC’s advantage. USC would win a dominant 73-54 over Utah.

On the heels of the win against Utah, USC faced another Pac-12 opponent in Colorado at the Galen Center on Sunday.

The first half started slowly, as both teams were unable to score for almost two minutes. USC scored first, as Barrett grabbed a fast break point with the help of a steal by Vaioletama.

Vaioletama would quickly earn an assist, feeding the ball to Adams. The Buffs had a scoring drought for three minutes, giving the Women of Troy a chance to score four points within that time.

The Buffs made it tough for the Trojans to score, Calvert grabbed a fast break point after the team struggled from the outside. Shortly after, Jaco hit a field goal. With 11:54 left, the Trojans led the Buffs, 12-6.

The Buffs began catching USC with some timely 3-pointers, bringing Colorado up to a one-point deficit with 8:13 left in the first half.

Freshmen forwards Kristen Simon and Amy Okonkwo were key players in keeping USC in the game offensively. As Colorado maintained a lead, Simon scored a free throw and layup, while Okonkwo had a layup.

At the half, the Women of Troy were trailing 21-23 to the Buffs. Colorado had a lot of fight in them, their offense was filled with speed and dives for the ball. Several jump balls were called throughout the first half.

USC charged out with much energy at the beginning of the second half. Vaioletama’s offensive grew to a high level of intensity. Vaioletama made a pair of 3-pointers within a minute of each other.

“I think that’s really big that she put those two in for us,” Adams said. “A lot of the posts, they’re already down in the paint and they don’t respect her jump shot as much as they should.”

The Buffs made a painful mistake by fouling the Women of Troy, who shot at 80 percent from the key. Horn, Vaioletama and Adams made all of their free throws.

Colorado kept forcing the Women of Troy to commit turnovers. Their defense in the paint caused USC to make mistakes. However, USC had a 13-point lead within the first five minutes of the second half.

The Women of Troy kept pouring in points, the efforts of Horn and Barrett would keep Colorado at a double-digit distance.

With less than five minutes left, the Women of Troy added on 12 more points. Though the Buffs would add 10 points in that time, they would lose 66-51 to the Women of Troy.

USC will travel north to face Stanford and Cal on Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 6:30 p.m., respectively.