USC wins first game of 2023 with a dominant victory over Cal

On a night when USC debuted its Legacy Gold jerseys, the Trojans’ defense shined once again in a 63-43 win. The Trojans never let the Bears get comfortable, scoring 21 points off 20 turnovers and forcing several errant shots.  

“It was a great win, coming off of last weekend,” said Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb in a postgame press conference. “We were a little sloppy on offense at times, but I think our effort was sustainable.”

It is the 10th time this season that Gottlieb’s squad has held opponents to 50 points or less.

“[Our defense] has been pretty darn good,” Gottlieb said. “We focus a lot on it, our players buy into it and the level of our opponent hasn’t really impacted it. Coach [Beth Burns] is a huge defensive mindset person, she’s been a great addition for us.”

Graduate guard Destiny Littleton led all players with 18 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds.

“I really do best when I get my teammates involved,” Littleton said. “The points happened because they were good basketball plays, and I just made the right ones.”

Littleton’s strong effort was supported by 17 points and 11 rebounds from sophomore forward Rayah Marshall. 

“This season, I’ve just been coming out dominating and doing whatever is necessary,” Marshall said. “Whatever I have to do to help my team, even if I have to play the point guard, I just want to win.”

Marshall and Littleton accounted for over half of the Trojan’s total points. The dynamic duo has played well while graduate forward Kadi Sissoko recovers from a day-to-day leg injury.

“Kadi’s skillset and her abilities aren’t going anywhere,” Gottlieb said. “So, when she comes back, it will just add to our confidence level.”

The Trojans went on an 13-0 run to start the game, capped off by redshirt freshman guard Taylor Bigby’s free throw. Sophomore guard Jayda Curry finally ended Cal’s scoring drought with a layup of her own with 4:47 to go in the first quarter.

But the Trojans kept pressing the Bears, forcing two shot clock violations in the final three minutes. USC led Cal 19-6 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Littleton swiped the ball from Curry and heaved it down the court to Williams, who laid it in for another for a 25-8 Trojan lead. By the end of the half, the score was 33-14 in favor of USC.

The Bears exploded for a 7-2 run to start the second half, pushing the score to 36-23 and forcing USC to call a timeout. 

Littleton responded by leaping and scoring a 3-pointer before driving through several Cal defenders and taking it to the rim. The graduate scored 2 more by drawing a foul and hitting both free throws with 4:39 to go to give her 7 points in three minutes.

At the same time, the Trojan defense kept the Bears off the board for five minutes, decisively swinging the momentum in USC’s favor. The Trojans maintained a 50-33 lead at the end of the third quarter.

“We got back to ourselves in the third quarter,” Gottlieb said. “We knew that [the Bears] could be good offensively, and we just reset our principles: don’t overhelp, force tough shots. We made a really great mid-game adjustment.”

Littleton’s old-fashioned 3-point play with 8:56 left in the fourth quarter brought Galen Center to its feet and put the game away for the Trojans. 

USC’s next task will be to take on one of the top teams in the country as they’ll host No. 2 Stanford. The Trojans have lost 28 straight to the Cardinal and are 20-67 all-time against Stanford. 

“It’s an incredible opportunity to play such a great team,” Gottlieb said. “They have so many weapons, and they are well-coached. We have to get ready and bring what we can bring, challenge ourselves against one of the best teams [in the country].”

USC will play No. 2 Stanford on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Galen Center.