No. 4 Duke Too Much for the Women of Troy, Wins 75-60
The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils handed the Southern California Women of Troy their fifth consecutive loss, as Duke improved to a perfect 10-0.
USC’s last lead of the game (7-5) came early in the first half, but the Women of Troy hung with the talented Blue Devils for much of the game.
“I thought we played extremely well against the No. 4 team in the country,” said USC coach Michael Cooper, who returned from a one-game suspension.
“One of our biggest nemeses has been our effort and our physicality down low, but these two young ladies (forwards Kate Oliver and Alexyz Vaioletama) came and took on the second best center in the country (Elizabeth Williams). Read more >>
UC Davis Drains 14 Threes, Extends USC’s Losing Streak to 4
The losing streak extended to four games for the Women of Troy Friday night, and it wasn’t pretty.
The UC Davis Aggies made 14-of-26 three-pointers and managed to hold on for a 78-69 road upset.
“We had some defensive breakdowns that left them open for easy shots,” said USC associate head coach Daron Park, who was filling in for Michael Cooper during his one-game suspension. “They shot the ball extremely well from the three today and really kind of fed off of that.”
USC forward Cassie Harberts attributed the surrendered three-pointers to poor communication: “If we’re in a press, it’s going to be really, really important that we talk out who gets which man.”
“You just have to match up with whoever’s around you, and we didn’t do that.
“We always ran back to our specific player, and that just leaves them wide open shots. Tonight, they knocked them down.”
The Aggies scored 42 of their 78 points (nearly 54 percent of their total output) from beyond the arc. The team’s leading scorers, Cortney French and Sydnee Fipps, combined to convert eight of 12 three-point attempts, and Blair Shinoda and Idit Oryon contributed five additional treys. Read more >>