USC's offense continues to surge, fly past Pepperdine Waves

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Women of Troy have been igniting an offensive fireball since losing a close battle to Notre Dame in South Bend one week ago today, as they have now scored 80-plus points in back-to-back games, with their recent win coming against the Pepperdine Waves, 82-52. The No.18 USC Trojans improve to 5-2 on the young season.

"We're still in a place where we want to keep getting better, but you know you want to be able to build one step forward and make it two or three in a row," Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in her opening statement to the media after the win.

The Women of Troy came out after winning the tip-off, guns ablazing, as the Trojans shot 51% from the floor in the first half. Freshman Jazzy Davidson led USC in first-half points with 16 points on 5-10 shooting, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Davidson ended the first half with her third block after denying Pepperdine's Meghan Fiso of a last-second three-point attempt.

USC got in front early by draining the three-ball efficiently, shooting 45% from beyond the arc, and making points in the paint in traffic, as they managed to score 26 points there. Along with a majority of their points scored in the paint, everyone got a touch of the ball as the Women of Troy recorded 14 assists, with Kennedy Smith logging in 7 early dimes.

By the start of the second half, the Women of Troy already had a sizeable 47-26 lead over the Waves and never looked back as coach Gottlieb nearly emptied her bench and let everyone play a handful of minutes. By the end of regulation, Kara Dunn would lead in the scoring category for the Women of Troy, shooting an oustanding 80% from the floor and going 3-4 from three-point range.

"I think us having versatile team members and having multiple ways of attack is really good for us," Dunn said regarding how she and her teammates have been able to score efficiently.

The Women of Troy continue their six-game homestand by hosting Saint Mary's Gaels on Tuesday, December 2.