The Wisconsin Badgers (13-14, 5-11 Big Ten) traveled to the Galen Center in Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) Thursday, Feb. 19, looking for their first win since beating Nebraska at home Jan. 22.
Coming off a 23-point loss to Minnesota at home Monday, Feb. 16, Wisconsin looked to put up a valiant effort in this contest. But, the Trojans have been playing their best basketball of the season as of late, winning their last five contests, putting them firmly back in contention for a March Madness bid.
The game was slow with the two teams combining to shoot 2-for-22 in the first four and half minutes. A Destiny Howell layup at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter would give the Badgers their largest lead of the night at just 6-2. USC closed the quarter on a 12-5 run and led 14-11 at the end of the quarter.
The Trojans found some mojo shooting the basketball in the second frame, highlighted by three-point field goals from Jazzy Davidson and Kara Dunn, shooting 50% as a team in the quarter. The improved shooting helped USC open a 30-22 halftime lead.
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The struggles continued for the Badgers as the second half got underway despite two 3-point field goals from Kyrah Daniels, both coming off of assists from Ronnie Porter. Davidson led USC in the quarter, scoring 11 of her 24 points on the night in the frame. Wisconsin cut the lead to 46-39 with 1:32 left in the quarter before a Davidson’s three stretched the lead back to double digits.
The 38 combined points from Trojans’ Davidson and Dunn proved too much for the Badgers to handle as USC led for majority of the game before going on to win 66-59.
In spite of the loss, the Badgers have some positives to take away from the contest. They outrebounded the Trojans 41-39 and won the second chance battle 13-9. They also held the opposition to just 39% shooting from the field and 23.1% from 3-point range.
Wisconsin also enjoyed a couple milestones in the loss. They’ve now hit 231 threes on the season, breaking their previous record of 226 set in 2022-23. Porter also tied her career high in assists with 12, just two turnovers.
The Badgers will look to snap their losing streak again against the No.2 ranked UCLA Bruins(26-1, 16-0 Big Ten) Sunday, Feb. 22.
