Coming off a disheartening loss to No. 2 South Carolina, No. 11 USC women’s basketball needed a redeeming win Tuesday. 

The Trojans had lost their title as the “Real SC” to the other USC — having been physically outmatched by a team they may need to beat to reach their postseason goals — and lost some offensive confidence after shooting just 32.8% from the field.

Despite a shaky start Tuesday, which saw USC (3-1) down by as many as 8 points in the second quarter against the University of Portland (2-2), the Trojans flipped the script to beat the Pilots in dominant fashion 78-51. 

“We’re still a work in progress,” Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a postgame news conference. “But, we’ll take it.”

Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson continued to refine her craft after a slow start to her first semester, recording 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting. This was her most efficient performance thus far as a Trojan, including multiple key buckets in the first quarter that kept USC hanging on. She also added seven rebounds and five assists — both the most she’s had this season.

“She was heating up the ball,” sophomore forward Kennedy Smith said in a postgame news conference. “She was bringing the ball up, getting to the basket. That’s the stuff that she does best. So, when she has the opportunity, I tell her, ‘Take it.’ I have full confidence in her.”

Coming off the bench, senior guard Londynn Jones also heavily contributed to USC’s offense, lighting up the second half with four 3-pointers on seven attempts for 12 points on the night.

“[Jones] has proven that she’s a shot maker,” Gottlieb said. “I’m more surprised when they don’t go in … if she misses her first two, I expect the next four to go in.”

Smith and Davidson combined for 13 points to lead USC to a key 21-0 second-quarter run that took them from an 8-point deficit to the comfortable lead they maintained through the rest of the game.

Though Smith was key to propelling the Trojans into their sizable advantage, scoring USC’s second-most points with 13 on 5-of-14 shooting, Gottlieb especially praised her aggressive defense that helped keep the Pilots at bay late in the game. 

“Picking up the pressure on the defensive end usually kickstarts your offense,” Gottlieb said. “Obviously, Ken leads us in that area.”

USC maintained control over the game, tightening up its defense and winning the battle on the glass. A season-high 13 steals and 26 defensive rebounds reflected USC’s improving defensive capabilities throughout the game. 

The Trojans also limited Portland’s scoring from afar, holding them to 25% from the 3-point line, as well as just 32% from the field. 

“I thought our players, after that first quarter, really figured out that we’d pick up the defensive intensity and the ball pressure to negate their size on the wings,” Gottlieb said. “I thought we did that pretty well.”

Careless possessions did the Pilots no favors as their 29 turnovers — the most by a USC opponent so far this season — were compounded by their inability to beat the Trojans to the glass. USC’s 49 rebounds to the Pilots’ 39 were helped in large part by junior forward Yakiya Milton, who recorded 12 rebounds in her performance off the bench.

“[Milton] came in and made a concerted effort to go grab the ball, got our hands on balls,” Gottlieb said. 

The fourth quarter was especially efficient for the Trojans, as they shot 10-of-24 from the field, to spark another impressive run in the first four minutes of the quarter, this time 10-4.

With the Trojans heading into another ranked matchup against No. 24 Notre Dame on Friday in South Bend, the biggest question is whether they can open the game with sharper execution than they did against Portland.

Ana Arriaga, Sean Campbell and Dante Ling contributed to this report.