USC suffers early exit in Pac-12 Tournament


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After sweeping Colorado in its two regular season matches by a combined 35 points, the USC women’s basketball team looked to make it three-for-three as it prepared to defend its reign as Pac-12 Tournament champions, but Colorado had other plans in mind.

No. 8 seed USC went cold late in the first half and was unable to overcome the halftime deficit, as No. 9 seed Colorado took out the defending       Pac-12 champions 75-63 at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington.

Junior guard Brianna Barrett led USC (15-15, 7-11 Pac-12) with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore guard Jordan Adams and senior forward Kaneisha Horn scored 10 points apiece, along with seven and six rebounds, respectively.

Senior forward Alexyz Vaioletama, USC’s leading scorer with 12.3 points per game, was held in check by the Buffaloes. She finished with four points and seven rebounds on 0-of-13 shooting.

Haley Smith led four double-digit scorers for Colorado (14-16, 6-12 Pac-12) with 16 points. Jamee Swan added 15 points, five rebounds and four blocks, while Lexy Kresl finished with 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

The two squads played an extremely close, physical game at the start, as the largest lead in the first eight and a half minutes was a mere three points. A lob to beat the shot-clock by Horn cut the Buffaloes’ lead to 15-14, but things would change from there. Colorado would get hot, using a 13-4 run to break the game open, while USC was unable to get the shots to fall. A 7-2 run by USC got them back into it, but the Buffaloes made some shots late to hold the advantage.

The Buffaloes would enter the half with a 39-27 lead, thanks in part to 58 percent shooting from the field. USC kept up their strong offensive rebounding, picking up 11 in the first half. It didn’t translate into points, as the Women of Troy only landed 23 percent of their shots. Colorado outrebounded USC at halftime 19-18.

“We absolutely have to have a sense of urgency,” head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said at halftime. “We’ve got to attack the basket, but more than just take shots, we’ve got to finish shots. It’s important that we move the ball from one side of the floor to the other. We’re getting bogged down on one side of the floor and trying to make things happen. Get the ball, reverse the ball, and try and make things happen.”

Halftime came at the perfect time for USC, as the Women of Troy came out strong in the second half, jumping out to an 8-2 run and looking like a completely different team from the end of the first half. However, the Buffaloes started warming up again, keeping the Women of Troy from getting too close. A 13-5 run by Colorado midway through the second half gave them a 16-point lead, their largest of the game to that point.

The Women of Troy made a late push to try and mount the comeback, taking advantage of the Buffaloes’ early foul trouble, but were unable to hit enough shots to overcome the early deficit.

“Every time we made a run, Colorado came back and either got to the free-throw line or knocked down a three-point shot,” Cooper said.

Efficiency was the key for the Buffaloes, who shot 53 percent from the field for the game, 71 percent from behind-the-arc and 87 percent from the charity stripe, compared to 29 percent, 17 percent and 63 percent for USC, respectively. USC outrebounded Colorado 41-38, including 23-6 on the offensive glass, and committed only seven turnovers compared to the Buffaloes’ 17.

“We have a lot of really good freshmen,” Adams said about the future of the team. “We’re not losing half of our team, so I think we’ll have a good foundation.”

The Buffaloes will play No. 1 seed Oregon State (26-3, 16-2 Pac-12) in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 6 pm on the Pac-12 Network. USC is not projected to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament but has a chance to earn a spot in the WNIT.