This Thanksgiving, No. 16 USC women’s basketball was thankful to be facing some easier competition.

In the midst of a grueling nonconference schedule, the Trojans (5-2) had gone up against three ranked foes in their last four games: a win over then-No. 9 NC State (5-3), followed by losses to No. 3 South Carolina (7-1) and No. 18 Notre Dame (5-1). 

Last week, however, USC caught a break with a set of home games against two mid-major opponents: Tennessee Tech University (4-2) and Pepperdine University (4-2). The Trojans dispatched both squads in dominant fashion, crushing the Golden Eagles 85-44 on Tuesday before taking down the Waves 82-52 on Friday.

“The team took a really tough loss [against Notre Dame] the other night, and came back with a concerted effort just to be better,” Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a postgame news conference Nov. 25. “The only thing we can do is continue to improve, and what I love about this group is we have so much exciting room for improvement.”

Though USC has seen mixed results thus far against ranked teams, it has outscored its first four unranked opponents by an average of more than 34 points per game, easily handling business against weaker competition — a necessary ability for a team with ambitions of a national title.

Davidson, defense power USC against Golden Eagles

Though freshman guard Jazzy Davidson hasn’t had a perfect start to her career, the former No. 1 overall recruit has visibly improved on both sides of the ball through her first seven games — and her performance against Tennessee Tech was her best to date.

Davidson scored the first 7 points of Tuesday’s game and kept that pace up all night, finishing with 20 points on a season-best 64% clip. She also grabbed 16 rebounds, the most by any Trojan in a game this season, to secure the first double-double of her young career.

“Her effort is really exceptional on both sides of the ball,” Gottlieb said of Davidson. “She was really willing to mix it up tonight — use her length, get the rebound and start our break.”

After turning the ball over 17 times across her previous three games — including a season-high eight against Notre Dame — Davidson recorded just two turnovers against the Golden Eagles, even as she took over at point guard on several possessions. 

Senior guard Londynn Jones was a critical part of USC’s offense as well, matching Davidson’s 20-point total on 7-for-9 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 mark from beyond the arc. 

Sophomore starting forward Vivian Iwuchukwu notched the first double-digit scoring game of her career, racking up 11 points while making five of her six shots.

As a team, the Trojans shot above 50% for the first time this season after making less than 40% of their shots through their first five games, an improvement Gottlieb simply attributed to “regression to the mean” — talented shooters who initially struggle to score will eventually see their shots fall more often.

However, the defense may have shone even brighter: USC held Tennessee Tech to a 21.5% clip from the field, the fifth-lowest field goal percentage allowed in a game in program history. Much of that figure came courtesy of the Trojans’ 15 blocks, their most in a single game since 1984; seven different players recorded a block, led by four from redshirt freshman forward Laura Williams.

“There was an emphasis for us on just being the hardest working team tonight,” Davidson said in a postgame news conference Nov. 25. “Our defense really showed that.”

Trojans cruise to win over Waves

Seven minutes into Friday’s matchup with Pepperdine, the Trojans held a narrow 10-8 lead and had missed their last four shots — a bad sign of things to come for what they expected to be an easy win. However, a 3-pointer from Davidson ignited the USC offense, starting a 24-2 scoring run over the next five minutes that immediately put the game out of reach for the Waves.

While Davidson came out with another great performance, scoring 18 points to go along with five assists and three blocks, it was senior guard Kara Dunn who led the way with 19 points on a season-best 80% shooting. Dunn’s 83 points on the season rank second on the team behind Davidson, and her 44% 3-point rate is the best among the Trojans’ starters.

“I’m not surprised when she trends upwards,” Gottlieb said of Dunn’s performance in a postgame press conference Friday. “I can’t say enough about her.”

Aside from Dunn and Davidson, USC’s next-highest scorer has been Jones, who has the fourth-most minutes played on the roster despite coming off the bench in her first six games. However, with junior starting guard Malia Samuels out with an injury, Jones slotted into the starting lineup for the first time since joining the Trojans.

“Londynn could slot right into any spot and keep it moving and be really crisp and clean that way,” Gottlieb said. “We have a ton of trust in Londynn whenever she’s in the game.”

While Jones sank just two of her shots for 6 points — a far cry from her 20-piece the game prior — her five assists were a major part of USC’s all-around attack; Gottlieb’s squad recorded a season-high 27 assists on 31 buckets Friday. Ten different Trojans notched an assist, including seven from sophomore guard Kennedy Smith, who also had five assists in each of her previous two games.

“Happy with a good team effort,” Gottlieb said. “We’re still in a place where we want to keep getting better, but you want to be able to build from one step forward and make it two or three in a row.”

After combining for 37 points across both games, Davidson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. The freshman currently leads USC in all five major counting stats — points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals — and ranks 11th in the Big Ten with 16.3 points per game.

Davidson and the Trojans will look to extend their winning streak to three games in a home matchup with Saint Mary’s College (5-3) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.