The USC women’s basketball team played a great first half of its December 21 road game at UConn. The Trojans built a lead of close to 20 points, and although they let that huge lead slip away, they just had to play a few good minutes down the stretch to bring home that win, which they did. Having a big lead doesn’t guarantee a team will win, but it does mean a team can play 15 minutes of bad basketball and yet still be in position to win. The opposite is also true: Having a 19-point deficit doesn’t guarantee a team will lose, but it has to be perfect the rest of the way to win. Anything less likely means a loss. So it was for USC at Iowa on Sunday.
The Trojans did deliver a 17-1 run. They did outscore Iowa by 15 in the second quarter to wipe out a 23-4 deficit. They did eventually take a six-point lead midway through the third quarter. However, by being down 19 early after their worst quarter of the whole season, USC had to play the last three quarters at a very high level. Playing two good quarters was not going to be enough. Having a six- or seven-minute pocket in which they didn’t play well would give Iowa enough time to fight back and win. That’s exactly what happened. Iowa rallied from its six-point deficit and took advantage of USC getting into foul trouble.
Yes, USC got a terrible whistle from the officials against Iowa, but that’s another part of falling behind 23-4. The attempt to come back has to avoid any speed bumps. Any plot complication hampers the effort to erase a 19-point deficit.
You all get the point: Falling behind big is not a good way to go about winning a game. Yet, USC women’s basketball has struggled in first quarters away from home in recent weeks. The strong start at UConn feels like a distant memory.
USC trailed by 11 early at Indiana before rallying. USC trailed early at Purdue before a huge second quarter. USC trailed early at Maryland before bouncing back. Do we see the pattern? USC needed to quiet a vocal Iowa crowd on Sunday. Instead, the Trojans fed that crowd with their four-point first quarter in which they missed their first 10 shots and their first five layup attempts.
Slow starts on the road are making this season harder than it needs to be. When we get to March Madness and the Women’s NCAA Tournament, USC will need to avoid falling into a ditch in the first 10 to 15 minutes of a game. Can the Trojans rally with a 17-1 run? Sure they can. It’s simply not something a team should have to rely on in order to win.
USC women’s basketball needs to make its path smoother and less daunting. Players need to know that while games aren’t necessarily lost in the first quarter, they certainly can be affected in important ways. Owning the first 10 minutes of a game needs to be more of a mental priority for a team which isn’t starting games the way it could.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC women’s basketball learns NCAA Tournament lesson at Iowa
