Penn State women’s basketball (9-8, 0-6 Big Ten) lost to No. 4 USC (16-1, 6-0 Big Ten) 95-73 on the road Sunday night.

The Trojans went on an 18-0 run to close the first half, and the Lady Lions never recovered. The loss kept the Lady Lions winless in conference play.

How It Happened

USC won the tip, and Grace Hall committed a quick shooting foul on USC’s Kiki Iriafen, who went 1-2 from the line. After an empty possession from the Lady Lions, the Trojans widened the lead to three on a layup from JuJu Watkins.

Alli Campbell recorded her first points at the opposite end and Penn State trailed 3-2. Tamera Johnson kept the Lady Lions within one after Iriafen buried a turnaround jumper. Kennedy Smith nailed a three, and Campbell could only answer with a two as the Trojans led 8-6.

Iriafen made one free throw, and Watkins only made one on the next possession, but Iriafen buried a jumper that pushed the lead to 12-6. A turnover from Watkins led to the first media timeout of the game.

Watkins made another free throw out of the timeout before Gabby Elliott was sent to the line and sunk both of her free throws to bring the score to 13-8 in favor of the Trojans.

USC went on a run from there that was finally stopped by a layup from Hall, but the Lady Lions trailed 20-10. Two layups from Gracie Merkle cut the lead to six, but Watkins made a three at the buzzer that put the Trojans back up by nine.

Talayah Walker sunk a two to start the second quarter and the USC lead was down to seven before Iriafen answered and put the Trojans back up by nine. Campbell missed two free throws before Talia Von Oelhoffen made her two free throws and the USC lead grew.

After a few empty possessions, Watkins connected on a two-pointer to push the USC lead to 13 before Talayah Walker answered for the Lady Lions and converted an and-one opportunity. The Lady Lions pulled to within six, but a USC three put the Trojans back up by nine.

Merkle converted a layup before USC went on an 18-0 run that pushed the score to 56-31 as the first half came to a close.

Watkins started the second half with a steal and a score to put the Trojans up 58-31. Elliott ended the scoring run for the Trojans with a two before Campbell hit a three that narrowed the gap to 58-38 and forced a USC timeout.

Watkins hit a two out of the timeout, but Walker answered to make it 62-41. Watkins made two free throws before the Lady Lions coughed up the ball and Iriafen connected on a two. Kayleigh Heckel nailed a three that pushed the Trojan lead to 71- 45 with just over three minutes left in the frame.

The third quarter ended with a buzzer-beater from Elliott that made the score 76-52.

The fourth quarter began with a quick USC timeout just 13 seconds into the frame. Smith took a turnover from the Lady Lions and turned it into two points that made the score 78-52 with just over eight minutes to go in the game.

Walker was fouled on the fast break but made both of her free throws before USC hit on the opposite end. Iriafen hit a jumper that pushed the lead to 84-61 with just over six minutes left in the game.

Campbell stopped a Trojan scoring run with a three that got the score to 91-70 in favor of the Trojans. The teams traded empty possessions as the game crossed the two-minute mark. USC continued to control the game as the buzzer sounded on a 95-73 loss.

Takeaways

• Talayah Walker had a nice game, as the Lady Lions’ true freshman finished the night with 18 points.
• The Lady Lions’ defense was no match for USC’s JuJu Watkins, who finished the game with 35 points and 11 rebounds.
• After going 0-6 in the Big Ten, it’ll be a stretch of the imagination to say the Lady Lions will have a shot at upsetting No. 1 UCLA, especially on the road.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will be back in action against UCLA at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15. The game will be streamed on Peacock.