Until about the seven-minute mark in the third quarter, Juju Watkins was outscoring Oregon. She had 27 of her 33 points at the time.
USC led almost the whole way, as it took Friday night’s contest 88-51.
“They were on, they played well, it wasn’t just one or two, it was four or five that were making shots,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “They’re a better team than us. Bottom line.”
The No. 10 ranked USC Trojans (19-4, 9-4 Pac-12) came into Matthew Knight Arena riding a four-game win streak to take on the Oregon Ducks (11-15, 2-11 Pac-12), who were suffering a seven-game skid.
Oregon started the game trying to take advantage of USC’s lack of size by running the offense through Phillipina Kyei.
“I think we got a little gun-shy inside too when Rayah Marshall blocked a few shots early in the game,” Graves said. “And I thought we got a little gun-shy around the hoop and didn’t finish ones that we could have.”
The Ducks started with Ula Chamberlin guarding USC’s Watkins, which didn’t work very well.
In her first four minutes, Watkins scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds. At that point, the Ducks had only two rebounds while the Trojans raked in 10.
Oregon also went 1-8 from the field in that stretch and went down 15-2 with just under six minutes to play in the first quarter.
Watkins completely outclassed the Ducks in the first quarter, outscoring them 14-7.
After the first quarter, USC led 29-7, shooting 10-20 from the field and 4-8 from 3-point range. The Ducks shot 3-22 in the quarter, were outrebounded 18-13 and didn’t force a single turnover.
The Trojans, on the other hand, had three blocks and three steals in the opening frame.
Oregon jumped out to a hot start in the second, scoring six points in the first three minutes. In the time Watkins was off the floor, the Ducks looked a lot more organized on both sides of the ball.
Watkins is the Trojans’ catalyst on both ends of the floor, and when she was off, USC looked a lot more manageable. The Trojans did a fantastic job all night defending the Chance Gray–Kyei pick-and-roll, which has been the Ducks’ bread and butter.
Oregon started focusing its defense on Watkins, which opened up both USC’s shooters and inside scorers because of how she plays.
Gray got started in the second as well, scoring her first four points of the night.
In the first half, Oregon fouled USC 10 times compared to being fouled just once. The Ducks only shot two free-throws in the half, missing both. It was abysmal compared to the Trojans’ 13, of which they made eight.
The half ended 57-21, Watkins had 24, outscoring Oregon for the second-straight quarter, hitting a 3 as the half expired to certify her dominance.
“She’s incredible, she’s a really good player, “Graves said. “I think it’s great she’s in our conference and we get to compete against players like that. She can play in the league right now.”
The third quarter was much more positive for the Ducks as they doubled their score from the first half in just a quarter. Kyei started to dominate more in the paint, going along with Oregon’s original plan to feed her in the paint.
It was just far too much too late, and with Watkins taking a hard fall and having to leave the game, it lost a lot of its steam. Watkins came back in the game after being treated in the locker room, and started playing her effortless, excellent style again.
A back-and-forth contest followed and the clock ticked on. It could have been a competitive half if the USC lead wasn’t lingering around the 30-point mark.
After an over three-minute scoring drought from the Ducks, USC’s lead ballooned to almost 40, really emphasizing the mismatch between these two teams.
Throughout the game, Oregon looked like it didn’t know what to do on either side of the ball.
The Trojan defense was relentless, forcing 12 turnovers, and on offense, they shot 48%. Along with 32% from 3, it was a tremendous day for the Trojans.
Oregon’s big-3 — and really the whole team — sputtered. Gray finished with 12 points while Kyei had 10 and Grace Vanslooten tallied 11. The rest of the team combined for 18.
The Ducks just didn’t come to play today, and look to improve against another national top-10 team, as they host No. 9 UCLA at Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday.
