After surviving a scare up in Seattle Sunday afternoon, USC women’s basketball returned home to face Michigan State at Galen Center on Wednesday night. With just three games remaining in the regular season, every contest is a crucial one from this point forward.
The Trojans came out swinging against the Spartans, taking a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. Michigan State made a late run, cutting the deficit to six with four minutes left to play. However, the Trojans responded in crunch time, pulling away late and prevailing with an 83-75 victory.
Juju Watkins led the way for USC on offense, finishing with 28 points and eight rebounds. Kiki Iriafen had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Rayah Marshall had eight and 12, respectively.
USC committed 23 turnovers in this game. It’s the second time USC won a game this month when committing 23 turnovers. The other instance of a USC February win with 23 turnovers was on February 8 against Ohio State. USC continues to show it can overcome flaws and mistakes by excelling in other areas.
USC’s perimeter defense won this game. The Trojans limited Michigan State to one made 3-pointer. The Spartans finished 1 of 13 on threes, a crucial aspect of the win. USC also did a lot of work at the free throw line, earning 35 attempts and making 26.
With the win, USC officially clinched a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis in two weeks. The Trojans can finish the season no lower than third in the conference standings, and will not have to play a conference tournament game until the quarterfinals.
In addition, USC inched closer to a Big Ten regular season title rematch with UCLA next week. After defeating their crosstown foes at home last week, the Trojans will travel across town to Pauley Pavilion for the regular season finale March 1. If the Women of Troy can take care of business in their final regular season home game against Illinois Sunday, they will be playing for a Big Ten championship against the Bruins next week.
Up first, however, the Trojans will host the Illini Sunday afternoon in the final regular season home game for both Iriafen and Marshall. Tipoff from Galen Center is set for 1 p.m. Pacific Time on FS1.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC has won two games in February in which it committed 23 turnovers
