WOMEN’S BASKETBALL — 2025-26
USC vs. UConn — as it happened
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Scoring plays
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(Ethan Thai / Daily Trojan)
📌 PINNED
Sean Campbell & Julia Ho from Galen Center
No. 16 women’s basketball to face No. 1 UConn in Elite Eight rematch.
No. 16 USC (7-2) hosts No. 1 UConn (9-0) at Galen Center, marking the first time the Huskies have played in Southern California since their last visit in 2003. This is the fourth meeting between the top-tier programs in the last two years — UConn holds the advantage 2-1.
We’re reporting live at Galen Center. Refresh to see new updates.
4:30 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Though the energy was high at Galen Center, No. 16 USC women’s basketball was unable to reverse the curse against undefeated No. 1 UConn in a crushing 79-51 loss Saturday. The Trojans struggled mightily to score against the Huskies, who have knocked the Trojans out of back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in the Elite Eight, especially during a first-half 24-2 UConn run that all but ended the game early.
Sophomore guard Kennedy Smith was a lone standout for the Trojans, scoring 16 points and securing seven rebounds and three steals, though her 5-for-15 clip was still in line with her disappointing season average. Star freshman guard Jazzy Davidson was held incredibly quiet, shooting 3-for-13 for 10 points, while spark plug senior guard Londynn Jones, who scored 14 points on 3-of-10 shooting — 0-for-6 from beyond the arc — was also held dormant until garbage time.
The massive loss was USC’s second against a top-tier opponent in as many tries this season. If it hopes to make a deep run in March, the JuJu Watkins-less program still has a lot to prove and will almost assuredly fall significantly on the Associated Press’ rankings as the bulk of Big Ten play looms.
4:27 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
The Trojans fought back slightly in garbage time on free throws from Jones and a layup from Samuels to lose by less than 30 by game’s end, but the massive loss was still a major blow to USC’s confidence and slates them as a team that can’t compete with the best of the best.
USC has yet to come even a bit close to recreating its electric, buzzer-beating 72-70 win against the Huskies last December — a feat that was only possible with the help of Watkins and her leadership of the Trojans’ second-half comeback, which clearly was not possible today.
4:18 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Heckel’s first and only points of the game so far — a layup to put the Huskies back up by 30 at 77-47 — was met with an intense cheer from the crowd.
4:06 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
While USC fought to regain some of its momentum to close the third quarter, Dunn was blocked, followed by an Iwuchukwu turnover to give UConn another score to start the period.
Individual struggles have continued for USC. Davidson is on pace for her second sub-double-digit point effort — the other being a matchup against then-No. 2 South Carolina — with 6 points on 2-for-10 shooting. Davidson scored USC’s first point of the quarter on a free throw after about three minutes of play, but the Trojans are still down 72-40.
Jones has picked it up as of late to get to 10 points, but is still 0-for-5 from 3-point land and 3-for-9 from the field overall.
Though Smith’s 4-for-13 shooting leaves a lot to be desired, her 14 points are more than a third of USC’s total and are single-handedly keeping this game from sputtering away into an utter embarrassment. She has also added seven boards.
3:58 p.m.
Julia Ho, Associate Managing Editor
Smith is so back — the guard gave the Trojans 8 points, including four made free throws and her first successful 3-pointer of the game with three minutes on the clock, which also brought Dunn to four assists, a new season high. Jones contributed two made free throws of her own, while Davidson made one.
Smith is pretty much the only bright spot for the Trojans, scoring a team-high 14 points along with a team-high seven rebounds. Davidson’s trey came after Smith’s; though the Trojans are fighting their hardest to recover the deficit, UConn is up 69-39 at the end of the third quarter.
3:45 p.m.
Julia Ho, Associate Managing Editor
Four minutes into the third quarter, UConn has already had its way with the Trojans, going on a 9-point scoring run. USC’s deficit has eclipsed 30 points as the Trojans have continued their scoring struggles. UConn leads 55-21 with about 15 minutes to play.
Two free throws and a layup from Jones are the only Trojan points in the half as the game has fallen completely out of reach, though the split crowd has continued to maintain energy, cheering on the Huskies.
Graduate guard Azzi Fudd now leads UConn in scoring, with 17 points on the game.
3:17 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
UConn dominates USC in first half thanks to 24-2 run
While attempting to make a buzzer-beater to bring the Trojans back within 20, USC’s star freshman guard Jazzy Davidson got packed and sent down to floor to end the half with a bang, though not one in favor of the Trojans. UConn went on a 24-2 run, spanning the second half of the first quarter and more than half of the second quarter, to propel them to a 39-17 lead at halftime.
USC’s stars have struggled mightily. Davidson, who is averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game, is 1-for-8 from the field. Senior guard Londynn Jones, often a sparkplug off the bench and USC’s third-highest scorer, is 1-for-6. Though sophomore guard Kennedy Smith’s 6 points are a highlight thus far, her 2-for-8 clip leaves much to be desired.
Senior guard Kara Dunn has been the only bright spot for USC, adding 5 points on 2-for-3 shooting and a season-high three assists.
The Trojans have also struggled with turnovers, getting the ball stolen from them six times, leading to 10 points, while also surrendering 4 second-chance points. The Husky offense has looked dominant through and through, led by double-digit efforts from graduate guard Azzi Fudd and freshman forward Blanca Quinonez, and 7 points from junior guard Ashlynn Shade.
3:17 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
USC scored on three consecutive possessions, including Dunn’s second make of the game, a layup from Smith to bring her to 6 points and Jones’ first points of the game to make it 35-17. However, the very next Husky possession, Fudd drained a 3-pointer to kill USC’s momentum and put the UConn lead back to 20 points.
Fudd and Quinonez are both in the double digits, while Smith and Dunn are the only two Trojans to have scored more than one basket.
3:11 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Though a Davidson score in the first minute of the second quarter appeared to spark some Trojan momentum, USC immediately went back to looking completely outmatched by its undefeated foes.
The Huskies are now on a 24-2 run as USC is in the midst of another roughly five-minute scoring drought. No Trojan has made more than one shot from the field so far.
UConn leads 32-11 with about four minutes to play in the half.
3:08 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
About 13 minutes into the game, no Trojan has more than 4 points, while four Huskies — Williams, junior guard Ashlynn Shade, graduate guard Azi Fudd and freshman forward Bianca Quinonez — have at least 5 on multiple made shots from the field. Quinonez leads the way with 8.
Davidson, Dunn and Jones — USC’s top three scorers — are now a combined 2-for-14.
3:02 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
It’s finally Jazzy time.
Davidson broke the roughly six-minute scoring drought with a fast break layup off a dish from Dunn as the Trojans hope to take momentum back in their home stadium.
2:58 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Many of USC’s typical stars are struggling early on. Davidson is 0-for-3 from the field, though she has added two blocks. Jones, often a sparkplug off the bench when starters are struggling, is also 0-for-3. An early Kara Dunn trey and Smith’s 4 points are the only thing holding the Trojans into this game.
Continued Husky dominance in the paint has extended their lead to 23-9 as the first quarter comes to an end. With just over five minutes to go in the period, USC led 9-8, though it has hardly had a good look at scoring during its drought.
The Trojans will need a major turnaround soon or else this game will fall completely out of reach.
2:53 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Turnovers have proved costly for USC already, as UConn’s third steal led to a quick basket and the team’s fifth and sixth points of turnovers already, forcing a timeout from Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
The Husky run has been extended to 10-0.
2:51 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Heckel entered the game to a swarm of boos from the crowd. Though she hasn’t made an impact yet, UConn extended its scoring run to 8-0 after a sophomore forward Dayana Mendes foul gave the Huskies two tries from the free-throw line.
UConn now leads 16-9 with about two minutes to go in the first quarter.
2:48 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
There have already been four lead changes less than seven minutes into the first quarter here at Galen Center, though UConn now has a 12-9 lead after scoring two buckets, one of which came from another Williams layup.
Williams is the only player to have made multiple shots from the field with 6 points at a 3-for-6 clip. She is only averaging 7.4 points per game, but the Huskies have attempted to use her size as a mismatch against the four-guard Trojans.
2:44 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Iwuchukwu is now in to match up against Williams as the Trojans now hold a 9-8 lead after Smith went to the line for her third and fourth points to put USC back ahead.
Jones also entered the game for Samuels.
2:40 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
The matchup between Raulušaityte and UConn senior forward Serah Williams has defined scoring early on. Raulušaityte missed her first two attempts near the bucket, but made a 2-pointer to put USC ahead 7-6 with about seven minutes to play. Williams has made both of her two shots so far.
2:35 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
The national anthem has been performed and the sold-out Galen Center crowd is taking to their seats with tipoff just a few minutes away. Many of the fans, especially in the student section, are sporting white and waving white pom-poms for the game’s white-out theme.
2:25 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
USC’s starting lineup:
F Gerda Raulušaityte
G Jazzy Davidson
G Kara Dunn
G Malia Samuels
G Kennedy Smith
No surprises with any of USC’s four starting guards — the only time all four of Davidson, Dunn, Samuels and Smith haven’t started a game was when senior guard Londynn Jones filled in for an injured Samuels in November.
Raulušaityte has been fighting with freshman forward Vivian Iwuchukwu for the starting spot all season and is making her first start since Nov. 18. Raulušaityte is shooting 10-for-12 from the field since going 0-for-5 in her two most recent starts, potentially leading to her start over Iwuchukwu.
Either way, both will likely play similar minutes as they typically split time to allow for USC’s five main guards to play high volume minutes.
2:15 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
UConn sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel will make her return to Galen Center, this time decked out in navy and red, after transferring away from USC in the offseason.
Heckel is averaging 7.7 points, three rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game, largely off the bench this season. She played a significant role for the Trojans last season where she started seven consecutive games early in the season, averaging 6.1 points per game.
1:55 p.m.
Sean Campbell, Associate Managing Editor
Tipoff is about 35 minutes away. No. 16 USC (7-2) hosts No. 1 UConn (9-0) at Galen Center, marking the first time the Huskies have played in Southern California since their last visit in 2003. This is the fourth meeting between the top-tier programs in the last two years — UConn holds the advantage 2-1.
The teams have a great deal of recent history, with the Huskies knocking the Trojans out of the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back Elite Eight meetings. Just a few days after superstar junior guard JuJu Watkins tore her ACL last season, USC was utterly dismantled by UConn, 78-64, after the then-No. 7 Trojans won their initial regular season matchup, 72-70, their first win against the program, then ranked No. 4.
Now, with Watkins out for the entire season, USC will hope to reverse multiple past trends with the aid of new faces like star freshman guard Jazzy Davidson and transfer senior guard Londynn Jones.
However, this UConn team has already proved itself as a major championship contender, taking down No. 6 Michigan in late November and crushing every other opponent it has faced. Notably, the last time UConn trailed at the end of a half was a game against Oklahoma on March 29.
