Women to host weekend series


Senior guard Aliyah Mazyck shoots a layup against Stanford Jan. 4 at Galen Center. (Feitong Du/Daily Trojan)

After losing to No. 6 Oregon and No. 9 Oregon State last weekend, the women’s basketball team looks to close out its regular season with a pair of wins when it hosts Colorado and Utah this weekend.

The Women of Troy faced Colorado and Utah on the road in early February and narrowly defeated Utah 84-80. This victory against the Utes, who were ranked No. 19 at the time, showed the Trojans’ ability to compete at a high level despite a lackluster conference record. But following the win over Utah, USC came up short against Colorado, whose victory against the Trojans marked their first conference win.

Utah fell to UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State following its loss to USC, although it bounced back with commanding victories against Washington and Washington State. Colorado maintains a poor conference record of 2-14, despite picking up a conference win against Washington State.

The Trojans’ record has also taken a dip recently following a three-game losing streak against Pac-12 opponents. This does not bode well for their Pac-12 tournament campaign, as they would hold the ninth seed out of 12 if the tournament were to start today.

“We’re over moral victories at this point,” senior guard Aliyah Mazyck said following the Trojans’ loss to Oregon Sunday. “These [conference games] are games that we need to win, so the fact that we aren’t winning them is tough. But we’re thankful for the experience and the exposure, and we just need to keep growing and make sure we capitalize on these next two games.”

In their last meeting with the Buffs, the Trojans struggled with consistency. While they shot above 60 percent from the field in both the first and third quarters, the team averaged just 29.4 percent and 23.5 percent in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. 

As they face the Utes, the Trojans must keep an eye on senior forward Megan Huff, who poses a threat on both sides of the ball. Huff leads her team with 19.6 points per game this season and averages 6.9 defensive rebounds per outing.

However, Utah’s offensive firepower is not limited to Huff. The Trojan defense should also focus on stopping freshman wing Dre’Una Edwards, who is shooting 54 percent from the field this season. The Trojans cannot afford a repeat of their poor defensive performance on Sunday, in which they gave up 96 points to Oregon. 

This weekend marks the last regular season competition for the Trojans’ seniors, including Mazyck, who has established herself as both a scorer and team leader this season.

“As a senior on this team, I have to provide leadership,” Mazyck said. “I just try to provide it through example [by] being consistent, playing intense, playing both sides of the ball, defense and offense.”

As her final season comes to a close, Mazyck intends to leave everything on the court and to encourage her teammates to do the same.

“I definitely want to go out with a bang,” Mazyck said. “I hope we can all go out on the right foot and win these games and keep that same intensity going into the Pac-12 tournament.”

The Trojans will compete at Galen Center this weekend, facing the Buffaloes 7 p.m. Friday before taking on the Utes at noon Sunday.