PISCATAWAY, N.J. — JuJu Watkins recorded her 11th career double-double, and Rayah Marshall crossed the 1,000-rebound threshold in a high-powered Big Ten win for the No. 4 USC women’s basketball team, which won its 10th straight game in a 92-42 victory at Rutgers tonight. The Trojans improve to 14-1 overall and to 4-0 in Big Ten play after getting 10 different players in the scoring column in Piscataway. Rutgers is now 8-7, 0-4.
USC took control of things early and spread the ball around to the tune of seven Trojans on the scoresheet as USC built a 37-14 halftime lead at Rutgers. The Trojans shot 38.7 percent from the floor in the first half to outpace the Scarlet Knights’ 22.2 percent shooting in those first 20 minutes of action. USC was also running things on the boards, outrebounding its host 28-13. The Trojans opened up the second half on a 12-0 run and landed five 3-pointers in the third quarter to amass a hefty advantage. USC wrapped the game shooting 40.3 percent overall and outrebounding Rutgers 56-28. The Scarlet Knights finished up at 28 percent from the floor and committed 27 turnovers that led to 38 USC points in the game.
USC’s Watkins paired a game-high 23 points with a career-high 14 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, and was joined in double-digit scoring by freshman Kennedy Smith’s career-high 19 points and 14 points from Kiki Iriafen. Marshall had her 1,000th career rebounds in the books by halftime and finished with a total of 10 boards on the night for the Trojans. Rutgers received 14 points from JoJo Lacey and a double-double from Destiny Adams with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights.
A JuJu Watkins 3-pointer out of the gates sparked a USC opening rally that saw the Trojans take a 10-1 lead before Rutgers hit its first field goal with 5:20 on the clock. Watkins planted another moments after that Scarlet Knight score to go up 13-3, and then Avery Howell hit one from the baseline to make it an 18-4 Trojan advantage entering the final two minutes of the first. Kiki Iriafen delivered in the paint for two more Trojan buckets in that final stretch, and USC gripped a 22-8 lead after 10 minutes of action. It was a slower start to the second quarter, but some hustle plays on defense from Kennedy Smith helped USC make an 11-0 surge to a 33-10 advantage with 3:55 on the clock. Clarice Akunwafo snuffed a Scarlet Knight shot soon after, and Kayleigh Heckel and
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