Trojans aim to get back to winning ways against Cal

USC will look to rebound against the California Golden Bears this Friday after a gut-wrenching 61-60 loss to UCLA last Sunday.

The Trojans have stepped it up on the defensive end of the floor on their way to a sound 11-4 record, yet sit at just eighth place in the Pac-12 standings. Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s squad has been battling night in and night out, allowing opponents to shoot an ice-cold 33.6% from the field, the 7th lowest mark in the nation. 

USC also ranks 10th in scoring defense, holding opponents to 52.6 points per game, and blocks, rejecting 5.6 shots per game. Sophomore forward Rayah Marshall, standing at 6 foot 4 inches, has been the team’s defensive anchor in the paint — her 3.15 blocks per game are good for second in the nation. But Coach Gottlieb knows sending these Golden Bears back to Northern California with a loss will not be an easy feat. 

“Their guards can really score, and they’re an incredibly complete team,” Gottlieb said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “They’ve got their depth, they’ve got size, they’ve got guard play, I think they’re gonna come out here and be very hungry and ready to battle us.”

Despite falling to 10th in the Pac-12 standings, the Golden Bears put the rest of the conference on notice as they almost upset the No. 2 ranked Stanford in a close game. The late-game offense came to an abrupt halt as the Golden Bears failed to score across the final four minutes, as they saw Stanford pull away in the fourth quarter. 

Berkeley are spearheaded by their guard trio, who account for over 35 points per game themselves. Sophomore guard Jayda Curry puts up 14.9 points per game but struggled against Stanford, shooting just 4-13 from the field and could be in for a bounce-back game. 

Senior guard Leilani Mcintosh kept the Golden Bears afloat against Stanford, finishing with a team-high 19 points on an efficient 7-13 from the field. She has been electrifying defenses from beyond the arc this season connecting on 47.2% of her jumpers, over a 10% leap from last season. The opposing USC guards will have their hands full come Friday, as a momentary lack of discipline could allow the Golden Bears to blow the game open.

Defense has not been the issue for this Trojan squad, though. The offensive side of the ball has been a real struggle for Gottlieb’s squad — within the Pac-12, they rank in the bottom three in points and turnovers per game, as well as field goal percentage. Graduate transfer Destiny Littleton acknowledged the lackluster offense and believes the team has to find that synergy on that end of the floor. 

“If every single person on the floor has confidence, then the ball has energy,” Littleton said. “When the ball has energy, it’s gonna find the hole. We’re not really too worried. We do know that that’s one of our weakest points of the team. But just like anything else, you get in the gym and you work on it.”

While While USC’s offense may decide this game, the rebounding battle will be a key component in deciding a victor. They mustered just 29 rebounds in Sunday’s loss to UCLA, a season-low. Cal crashed the glass hard on both ends, so the Trojans will have to be locked in and constantly boxing out on the defensive end to now allow second-chance points and extra possessions. Marshall stressed the importance of rebounding ahead of the matchup against Berkeley. 

“A goal of ours is always to be efficient,” Marshall said. “We look to rebound, we look to dominate in every position and just abuse the matchups.”

The Trojans superstar, graduate forward Kadi Sissoko, is in danger of missing the game after sitting out with an injury against UCLA, so Gottlieb will look for a boost in bench scoring to escape California with a win. 

The Trojans take on the Golden Bears at the Galen Center on Friday at 7 p.m. in hopes of climbing up the Pac-12 rankings.