In a back-and-forth defensive battle Sunday afternoon, No. 9 USC pulled away late to defeat Oregon 68-54. 

The win over the Ducks (9-7, 0-3 Pac-12) finished off the Trojans’ (12-1, 2-1 Pac-12) weekend sweep of two Oregon schools — two much-needed wins following their intra-conference opener loss to No. 2 UCLA (14-0, 3-0 Pac-12). 

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“We knew [these games] were must-wins to get our minds right,” said Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “If you take your foot off the gas, you can stumble. We know that our ceiling is very, very high, but we know that nobody’s too good to get knocked off.”

Each Pac-12 squad boasts a winning record and five teams are ranked inside the AP Top 25.

Sunday’s contest against Oregon was bound to be a defensive battle as the Ducks’ average height exceeds six feet tall. Oregon’s size facilitates a frustrating zone defense and the power to attack the paint.

USC freshman guard JuJu Watkins — who leads the Pac-12 with 26.1 points per game — scored 17 points, marking her second-lowest scoring output this season. 

“You’ve got  to pick your poison,” Gottlieb said. “If you’re going to sell out on [Watkins] and try to make it tougher, she’s gonna get you in other ways.”

Watkins used her gravitational pull on offense to open up opportunities for her teammates. The Trojans spread the ball to eight different scorers and recorded a season-high 25 assists on 28 field goals. 

In the first five minutes of the game, USC had a slow start, shooting 1/7. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the court, the Ducks’ 6-foot-8 junior center Phillipina Kyei put on a clinic in the lane. She scored eight points on 100% shooting and secured two rebounds in the first period. 

After holding Oregon State’s sophomore forward Raegan Beers under ten points and rebounds in the game prior, Kyei is the second straight center/forward averaging double figures that junior forward Rayah Marshall has been assigned to defend.

When the Trojans’ deficit stalled at 6-3, graduate guard McKenzie Forbes drew a pair of offensive fouls and took charge as the “maestro” of the USC attack. 

“One of my strengths is being versatile,” Forbes said. “As we’ve gotten into conference play, it looks different. There’s more scouts, teams know your offense [and] personnel better so I just try to do whatever I can.”

Forbes finished the game with 16 points and added four assists and two rebounds. Against Oregon State, Forbes posted just five points.

“Obviously, you want to have good shooting every night, but I try to keep myself never too high, never too low,” Forbes said. “I came out here with the same mentality, same routine.”

Redshirt sophomore guard Taylor Bigby drilled a triple from the near wing to give USC a one- point lead heading into the second period.

The Trojans erupted on an 8-2 scoring run when junior center Clarice Akunwafo subbed in for Marshall. The Ducks could hardly get a shot off before the buzzer and when they did, it was often met by the timely hands of a USC defender. In the second period alone, the Trojans’ man-to-man press forced three steals and three blocks which led to a 30-23 lead at the half.

Marshall returned to the court for the third period, with greater success both defending Kyei and the Ducks inside and as a shooter. 

“When I came into the locker room before the second half, [Akunwafo] told me I was letting her bury me,” Marshall said. “Basically, she told me to play better post defense. When I came out and made that adjustment, I was thanking her in the back of my mind.”

Marshall was near perfection in the third period with seven points on 100% shooting, three rebounds and two blocks, while holding Kyei to one basket and one rebound. 

With 9:08 minutes left in the fourth period, Oregon whittled down the USC lead to one point. But before the Ducks could make a play for the lead, the Trojans were back in control when Watkins — who’d been a silent killer all afternoon — sunk a three-pointer straight out of transition. 

Watkins delivered the coup de grace with 5:43 minutes remaining in the game. She fought off two defenders beneath the basket to snatch her own rebound and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Forbes who then nailed a three, extending the Trojans’ lead to eight.

“[Watkins] is a winner more than anything else,” Gottlieb said. 

The Trojans will look to carry their winning spirit into their revenge game against crosstown rival No. 2 UCLA 2 p.m. Sunday at Galen Center.