No.16 USC no match for No.1 UConn, fall in landslide 79-51

LOS ANGELES -- On all facets of this game, the No.16 USC Trojans Women's basketball squad was simply outplayed by the best team in the country, the Connecticut Huskies, and as a result, the Women of Troy suffered their worst loss of the season thus far, 79-51. 

From tip-off til the last buzzer, the Huskies set the tempo for this game, and it didn't help the Women of Troy's cause that self-inflicted wounds were a recurring theme as the Trojans committed 20 turnovers. UConn managed to score 26 points off USC's errors on the court. 

UConn pressured the Trojans further by controlling the paint, as the Huskies notched 44 points in the paint and snagged 41 rebounds. Connecticut was also moving the ball around efficiently, out-assisting the Women of Troy 25-11.

Along with the mishaps in handling the ball, the Trojans had no feel offensively, as the entire team shot just 30% from the floor and began the game scoring just 23% in the first half, which resulted in only 17 points scored, the fewest in a half the Trojans have had all season. On the flipside, the Huskies went on a 15-0 run to end the first quarter, which subsequently snowballed into what transpired when the final buzzer sounded. 

"We turned the ball over a lot," USC Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said on what transpired in the first quarter before the Huskies ultimately went on that 15-0 run that separated them from the Trojans. "That's something we talked about; it's really hard to guard them in transition off of made or missed baskets, but I thought we could do that better than anyone they played, but it's really hard off of live-ball turnovers." 

Despite the tough loss, coach Gottlieb was confident that the coaching staff and the Women of Troy could pick apart certain instances throughout this game and turn them into lessons, as the road moving forward for USC will start to make a left turn in terms of the top-ranked teams they play. 

"It was a bad outcome for us; no one's happy about that, but I think that the mentality of the team led by our leaders is something that was evident and we'll take that and build with that," Gottlieb stated. 

The Women of Troy look to be back in the win column as they host the Cal Poly Mustangs on Thursday, Dec 18.