Sophomore guard JuJu Watkins didn’t make her first field goal of the game until there was 2:02 left in the third quarter. Pair that with the fact USC turned the ball over 23 times — the team’s most since its first game against Ole Miss. Add on that the Trojans went into halftime shooting just 32.1% from the field. But the end result? An 84-63 drubbing by USC of the No. 8 team in the country at Galen Center on Saturday night.

“Regardless of what happens, we’re gonna make mistakes. We’re gonna have turnovers. For us it’s like, ‘How do we respond? How do we react?’” said graduate forward Kiki Iriafen in a postgame press conference. “Of course, we don’t want turnovers, but it was like, ‘We have to get back because Ohio State’s a great team,’ and they will capitalize off of that. But I think our half-court defense was great. Our transition defense was really great as well.”

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that USC (21-2, 11-1 Big Ten) really looked like the dominant team, but the Trojans clawed their way to the victory, mostly thanks to Iriafen and freshman guard Kennedy Smith. The duo was all over the stat sheet, combining for 37 points, 26 rebounds, nine assists, three blocks and a steal.

“There’s not enough I can say about [Iriafen and Smith]. I thought they set the tone for us defensively,” said Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb after the win. “I think [Iriafen] has every opportunity not to take every defensive challenge with everything that we ask of her offensively, but she does time and time again … and [Smith] is just really, really, really special … I don’t know that it’s a surprise to people in our locker room, but I think nationally it’s just going to continue to get more known.”

It was Iriafen, though, who really got USC on a roll against the Buckeyes (20-3, 9-3). Although she had a slow start to the day, shooting just 3-8 from the field at the half, she was in control of the game by the time the third-quarter buzzer sounded. 

Iriafen was unguardable by the smaller Ohio State defenders, scoring the first six points of the quarter for USC from the low post. It seemed like she found her comfort zone in the second half and got to any spot she wanted on the floor. This is exactly what Gottlieb sought after the Stanford transfer: to sustain the offense when Watkins is having an off night.

But it was a pleasant surprise for Smith’s superb Saturday showing. The stellar freshman had one of the best and most complete games of her young career, holding her own against some of the best in the country on the defensive side of the ball and carrying her weight on the offensive end.

“My versatility, just being able to guard one through five, and also just doing what I can on offense,” Smith said when asked about the role she’s carved out on the team. “So just coming in and doing what I can, whether it’s offensively or defensively, and just setting the tone from there.”

Her shining moment came with just over seven minutes left in the game. Rushing the paint as a shot was going up, Smith was able to corral the offensive rebound with a Buckeye defender all over her. She went right up through the harsh foul and sunk the shot, which made Galen erupt. It was one of five offensive rebounds on the night for Smith, who had a career-high 13 boards.

But it wasn’t just Smith and Iriafen that were getting in on the rebounding; the Trojans decimated Ohio State on the glass 62-30. It’s the most rebounds USC has had in a game since 1999, and its largest rebounding margin since 1993.

“I think it shows how athletic and versatile we are,” Gottlieb said. “We got a lot of stops, so we kept them off the boards, and then on the offensive end, I think we punched them in the paint. You’ve got to be able to win multiple ways, and we really challenged our team to get multiple opportunities.”

The Trojans stifled Ohio State all day. It was a close game for most of the first half, but USC’s shots finally started to fall, and the Buckeyes’ never did. The Trojans held an Ohio State team that came into the day averaging over 80 points per game on over 45% shooting to just 63 points and under 30% from the field. 

It was a staunch defensive showing from USC, which had to overcome the continued poor shooting performance of Watkins. She finished the game making just five of her 21 shot attempts — statistically her worst shooting performance of the season. This hasn’t been a fluke lately for the sophomore, who has shot just 30% across her last six games.

Perhaps this game will be a wake-up call for Watkins. She can’t afford to keep having lackluster performances against the top teams, especially with the Trojans’ most important matchup of the entire season just a few days away: a date with No. 1 UCLA (22-0, 10-0).

“When the chips are down, winning is most important to us,” Gottlieb said. “We’re playing great teams in our schedule, so we have to find a way to elevate and be better, and that’s what we’ll do with UCLA.”

The Trojans will have a few days of rest before it’s time for another part in the crosstown rivalry. USC will battle against the Bruins at Galen Center on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.