USC women lack the firepower to hang with UCONN, fall in Elite Eight

Playing without superstar JuJu Watkins for most of the NCAA Tournament, the USC women's basketball team made an improbable run to the Elite Eight. However, without their leading scorer, the Trojans simply lacked the firepower needed to overcome No. 2 seed UCONN to get to the Final Four.

Monday night, the Huskies' superstar, Paige Bueckers put on a show scoring 31 points, handing out six assists, coming up with four steals, and pulling down three rebounds as she led her team to a 78-64 win over USC. Unfortunately, the Trojans simply didn't have the ability to keep pace.

Senior center Rayah Marshall did all she could to carry her team. Coming into the game averaging 7.5 points per game, she scored a team-high 23 points on 7-12 shooting. What's more, she pulled down 15 rebounds to post a double-double.

Meanwhile, Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen both added to the cause by scoring 10 points. However, it wasn't enough as the Huskies got 22 big points from Sarah Strong and 15 from Kaitlyn
Chen, the latter of whom averages less than seven points per game on the season.

The Huskies simply had their way against the Trojans' defense. UCONN shot 45% overall and 45.5% from 3-point range (10-22). They also moved the ball well, handing out 16 assists on their 27 made baskets.

Meanwhile, the USC offense wasn't as efficient. Shooting only 32.8% from the floor, the Trojans were 3-13 from 3-point range (23.1%).

The only thing that allowed USC to hang around was the free-throw line. There, the Trojans had a nine-point advantage by making 23 of their 26 attempts.

The game got off to a slow start with UCONN leading 14-11 after the first quarter. However, the Huskies got some separation in the second quarter by outscoring USC by nine points to hold a 12-point halftime advantage.

To the Trojans' credit, they fought back in the third by outscoring the Huskies by a score of 21-12. In the fourth quarter, though, UCONN slammed the door with a 27-18 edge.

Unfortunately, this game was robbed of what was supposed to be its marquee matchup, Watkins vs. Bueckers in a head-to-head matchup of the college game's two biggest stars. That will always be a shame.

Had Watkins been available, it isn't hard to imagine the Trojans being able to keep up with the Huskies and even pulling out the victory. But missing an All-American is always tough to overcome.

That's what USC was able to do through the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. However, without being at full strength, a special season came to and end one step shy of the Final Four.