Women of Troy drop close Big Ten road game against Minnesota

MINNESOTA — The losing skid continues for the USC Women of Troy as they drop yet another heartbreaker in Big Ten play, this time against the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a close margin, 63-62. The impressive second-half performance of Kara Dunn was not enough to prevail against Grace Grocholski and Minnesota. 

To begin the contest, the Women of Troy were mostly led by true freshman Jazzy Davidson's 15-point first half, with her even outscoring the entire Golden Gophers squad in the second quarter by herself. Along with Davidson's dominance on the offensive front, the three-ball would be in favor of the Women of Troy in the first half, as they shot 47% from beyond the arc. 

Minnesota was barely able to find their footing in the first half, but soon found their rhythm in the second half, all in due part of Grocholski's 17 second-half points. Grocholski and Dunn were essentially going back and forth, with Dunn scoring 22 second-half points compared to Grocholski's 17, and Davidson would contribute 6 points for the entirety of the second half. 

Dunn and Davidson would be the only two players who contributed to USC's 28 points scored in the second half. 

The Golden Gophers' defense would largely keep the rest of the Trojans at bay, including some help from the Women of Troy's poor 41% shooting in the second half. Despite the low shooting percentage, the Trojans were coming up on the Golden Gophers late in the fourth quarter as Minnesota struggled to gain some leverage on USC, going 1-8 on their last field goal attempts of the game. 

USC managed to go a perfect 3-3 on field goal attempts to end the game, including a clutch three-pointer by Dunn in the last remaining seconds of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit within one, but the clock had already struck double zero before the Trojans could capitalize on a comeback. 

The close margin loss to the Golden Gophers gives USC their third straight loss, marking the longest losing streak this season. USC will have a long flight home before returning to the Galen Center to face yet another tough Big Ten opponent in the Maryland Terrapins, who are well above USC in the standings, with a 16-1 record.