A late push came up short for the Michigan State women’s basketball team as they dropped the finale of their California road trip.
The No. 21-ranked Spartans were held off late by Big Ten leader and No. 4-ranked USC in an 83-75 setback on Wednesday night at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
The loss was a second straight for MSU, which dropped to 19-6 and 9-5 in the Big Ten.
After trailing by as much as 21 in the second half, MSU got within six with 4:01 to play. That’s as close as they would get as the Trojans held on despite a fourth quarter where they committed 11 turnovers.
Grace VanSlooten matched a career-high with a game-high 29 points to lead the Spartans, which included scoring nine points during a fourth quarter where MSU outscored USC by a 26-15 margin. The 29 points matched a career high set in December 2022 while playing at Oregon for VanSlooten, who was 9-of-18 from from the field and converted 11-of-12 free throws.
Julia Ayrault had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Theryn Hallock added 12 points for MSU. Jocelyn Tate reached the 1,000-point milestone in the second half for the Spartans and finished with six points.
Star sophomore JuJu Watkins had a team-high 28 points and eight rebounds and Kiki Iriafen had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead USC (24-2, 14-1).
USC built a double-digit lead during the second quarter and had its lead stay there until MSU’s push in the fourth quarter. MSU was within 11 in the middle stages of the third quarter after a 7-0 run when the Trojans scored 10 straight to build a 21-point advantage that proved to be too much to overcome.
Watkins and Kennedy Smith, who finished with 13 points, each had key baskets to help USC fend off MSU.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State women’s basketball held off by No. 4-ranked USC
