Oregon hands No. 21 USC women their 2nd straight Big Ten loss

LOS ANGELES — The problem first surfaced on Saturday against UCLA. And it revealed itself again on Tuesday night against Oregon.

USC women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb is frustrated with her team’s lack of competitive drive, which ultimately led to a fourth-quarter breakdown and a 71-66 loss to the Ducks at the Galen Center.

“I’m not sure that our players completely understand the level that needs to shift when you’re that displeased with something,” Gottlieb said after the loss. “We have to compete, and we have to be disciplined to be able to do what we want to do with this team.”

The score was tied at 66-all with a minute remaining when Mia Jacobs took a 3-point shot that bounced off the rim. Ari Long, who had previously tied the game with a 3-pointer, hit another to give the Ducks the lead.

Katie Fiso made two free throws as part of a game-ending 14-0 run to hand the Trojans their second straight loss. It’s the first time all season that USC (10-5 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) has lost two straight games since the 2023-24 season.

Ehis Etute had a team-high 17 points for Oregon (14-3, 2-2) to go with 13 rebounds while shooting 6 for 10 from the field. Katie Fiso added 14 points while dishing out six assists.

“From my standpoint, about as upsetting a loss as we’ve had in this building,” Gottlieb said. “I told the players, that’s on me. That’s on us. It was gross in every way – the way we handled when we had a lead. The way we handled when they were cutting into our lead.

“We have a lot of potential to be really good, but not if we don’t figure some things out in terms of the way that we approach starts of quarters, starts of half, games, shootaround.”

An important part of USC’s offense was missing on Tuesday. Sophomore guard Kennedy Smith, who averages 10.2 points per game, was out for the game and is currently day-to-day with a lower leg injury.

Gottlieb had no update on Smith after the game and only confirmed that she is day-to-day.

Kara Dunn was the biggest offensive contributor in the game with a season-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Jazzy Davidson recorded a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds despite shooting just 5 for 20 from the field.

Dunn, a senior transfer from Georgia Tech, is one of the more experienced players on the team alongside Londynn Jones, a senior UCLA transfer who made a Final Four run with the Bruins last season.

Tapping into their teammates’ competitive side is a priority in the days leading up to the Trojans’ next game on Sunday at Minnesota (10-4, 1-2).

“It’s gonna take a lot of leadership,” Jones said. “One way of leading for us is leading by example. We can just start doing the things that are being asked, buy into what’s being asked and try to lead in that way, but I think it also is using our voice.

“Being as vocal as we can, and being a voice out there for Coach Lindsay when she needs it and just getting everyone together.”

The Trojans were coming off a lopsided loss to rival UCLA just three days earlier – a game in which they shot 4 for 11 from 3-point range. They had already surpassed that total by halftime and finished 6 of 15 from behind the arc.

Davidson and Jones each knocked down a 3-pointer and Dunn hit two as part of a 19-3 run that gave the Trojans a 21-9 advantage with 40 seconds left in the opening quarter.

“We got ourselves going,” Gottlieb said. “I thought that was the bright spot of tonight. I thought we figured it out. Early on, our shots weren’t falling, but we were taking the right ones. You stick with it, you pick up the pressure.”

Oregon tapped into its transition offense in the second quarter and was able to get a jump shot from Long and a 3-pointer from Astera Tuhina early on as a result. Davidson disrupted the Ducks’ flow with a blocked shot and fed the ball to Malia Samuels for a layup and a 27-16 lead.

The Ducks pressured Davidson throughout the game, but the true freshman still managed to make plays even without Smith by her side. It also opened opportunities for Jones (13 points) and Samuels (six points, four assists) to score.

The two were relentless in the paint, dribbling around the Ducks when they tried to press.

USC tightened its grip on the game by getting to the free-throw line. Dunn made a layup with 31 seconds left in the third quarter and was fouled in the process. That not only got the Trojans a point off a free throw – it also got starting forward and second-leading scorer Mia Jacobs into foul trouble.

Etute, another starting forward, was in foul trouble at that point as well with three fouls. The Trojans scored eight points from the free-throw line in the third quarter.

Fiso had the hot hand in the fourth quarter and scored eight points, and two free throws from Etute got Oregon within a point of tying the score.

“She’s a really good player,” Gottlieb said of Fiso. “We shifted the coverage to try and trap, and we couldn’t get it to the screen a couple of times in a row. When you pull your five-player into a trapping situation, then there isn’t help on the back side. So, you’ve really got to get the ball to the screen. We botched it in a number of ways.”

Jones made a layup, a free throw and a 3-pointer to extend USC’s lead once again and the Trojans pulled ahead 64-57, but they didn’t score at all for the final 4:46. USC shot just 15.8% in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, the Ducks put together their 14-0 finishing kick.

“It starts with our discipline,” Dunn said. “We can score as much as we want on offense and all that. But especially like, for me, it’s on defense. Making sure that I’m setting an example and setting the tone also for our team. I think it starts there.”