USC suffers consecutive losses on the road in Oregon


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Sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins dribbles the ball during USC’s loss against UCLA at Galen Center.
Sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins dribbles the ball during USC’s loss against UCLA at Galen Center. (Patrick Hannan | Daily Trojan)

USC traveled up north for its final two meetings against Oregon and Oregon State last weekend. The Trojans came out of the trip losing back-to-back games — an overtime loss Friday to the Beavers, then a blowout defeat to the Ducks.

Against Oregon State, USC started off strong, shooting 58.8% in the first quarter. However, that number dipped to 26.7% in the next 10 minutes to end the half ahead at 30-24. 

Even though the Trojans were winning the shooting battle at halftime — shooting 43.8% compared to Beavers’ 30.3% — Oregon State still had 8 more rebounds, 24-16. USC had a 10-point lead late in the third quarter. 

The Beavers fought back with 17 points from freshman guard Talia von Oelhoffen in the fourth quarter. Von Oelhoffen finished with 31 points in the game. To end regulation, Oregon State was on a 7-0 run with help from von Oelhoffen’s fifth 3-pointer.

In overtime, the game continued to be close to the final seconds. With 1:26 left in the game, freshman center Clarice Akunwafo got the Trojans back to level terms at 61-61. However, the next score ended up costing USC as the Beavers got a down low buzzer beater to win 63-61. 

Despite the loss, many Trojans showed strong performances. Sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins and freshman guard Rayah Marshall both earned double-doubles on the night. Marshall ended the night with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in 29 minutes, while Jenkins had 12 points and 14 rebounds in 43 minutes. 

Junior guard Alyson Miura had 2 3-pointers for 10 points in the game and a career-high 4 steals. In the end, USC finished the game shooting 36.6% from the field and 22.2% from three. 

After losing the tight game against the Beavers Friday, the Trojans continued their away trip by squaring against No. 19 Oregon. 

This game was not as close, as the Ducks started off strong and left USC behind in the first quarter. In a low-scoring performance, shooting 29.6% compared to Oregon’s 53.1%, the Trojans were down 17 by the half, 38-21. 

The poor shooting continued throughout the afternoon, as USC finished shooting 26.3% from the field and 23.5% from three. Additionally, the 17 turnovers compared to the Ducks 10 were costly in the blowout loss. 

A lone bright spot was Jenkins and Marshall who each played another double-digit performance with 16 and 11 points in the game, respectively. Graduate student forward Jordan Sanders added 11 points. Marshall also grabbed 9 rebounds in her performance.

In both games, USC missed junior forward Alissa Pili and graduate student guard Tera Reed. With these two losses on the road, the Trojans are now with a 9-9 overall record for the season and 2-6 in Pac-12
conference play. 

USC will return home to host UC Berkeley Friday and Stanford Feb. 6.