LOS ANGELES — The No. 4 USC women’s basketball team earned its 15th straight win in a choppy game with visiting Minnesota, with Trojans Kiki Iriafen and JuJu Watkins each recording double-doubles in an 82-69 victory at Galen Center. Now 19-1 overall and 9-0 in Big Ten play, USC is enjoying its best start to a season since 1981-82
USC was more effective from beyond the arc than from the floor overall in the first half, hitting 7-of-17 from 3-point range but ending up at 35.9 percent overall. Minnesota shot 36.4 percent in those first 20 minutes but landed just one 3-pointer as the Trojans gripped a 40-28 lead at halftime. USC was also ahead on the boards 25-21, and there were eight Trojans in the score column by the break. USC’s scoring touch warmed up in the second half, as the Trojans finished out the game shooting 45.5 percent to outpace Minnesota’s final 41.2 percent. USC wrapped things up by outrebounding the Golden Gophers 42-35.
USC’s Iriafen registered her seventh double-double as a Trojan with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Watkins notched her fourth of the season on 20 points and 11 rebounds. Avery Howell also hit double figures with 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers on the night. Minnesota also had three players finish in double digits, led by Sophie Hart with 18 and Mallory Heyer with 17, along with 14 from Amaya Battle. Heyer hit all five of the Golden Gophers’ 3-pointers in the game.
USC opened up with a 6-0 start keyed largely by Kennedy Smith’s efforts on both ends of the court. Soon after, it was all Kiki Iriafen for the Trojans, as she pumped in nine straight points on a three-point play and then back-to-back 3-pointers to build out an 18-3 USC advantage with 4:45 on the clock. Minnesota would mount an answering push later on an 8-0 surge that carved USC’s lead to 22-15 in the final minute of the first. The Trojans had the last word, however, with Kayleigh Heckel finding Talia von Oelhoffen for a corner three that had the scoreline at 25-15 USC after 10 minutes of action. Malia Samuels and Avery Howell got in on USC’s 3-point parade in the second frame, each going long to help USC craft a 39-26 lead before the halftime score wrapped as a 40-28 Trojan advantage.
JuJu Watkins hit her first field goal of the game on USC on the Trojans’ first possession and then bettered that with a 3-pointer — USC’s eighth — to nudge USC ahead 45-28 early in the second half. The Golden Gophers bit…
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