USC
16-5, 4-5Pac-12
Utah
12-8, 4-5Pac-12
USC Women Elevate To 70-59 Win At Utah
January 29, 2016 | Women's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — The USC women's basketball team got big games from guards Sadie Edwards and Courtney Jaco to pull the Trojans out ahead of host Utah tonight in Salt Lake City. USC fought through seven ties and eight lead changes before hitting the gas in the third quarter. A balanced attack in the final five minutes of the game padded out the USC advantage to a final 70-59 road victory. USC improves to 16-5 overall and 4-5 in Pac-12 play. Utah goes to 12-8, 4-5.
Sadie Edwards plugged in all 12 of her first-half points during the second quarter, with 10 of those coming in the final three minutes of the half to spark USC to a 39-37 halftime advantage. USC was shooting 50 percent from the floor to that point, just behind Utah's 52 percent. Both teams cooled in the second half, but Utah's slump was far more significant. USC finished up the game at 45 percent from the floor while the Utes wrapped at 40 percent. USC also outrebounded Utah 37-35 thanks to 12 boards hauled in by Temi Fagbenle and 10 from Kristen Simon, who finished with a double-double in adding 12 points to the Trojan cause. USC got a game-high and career-high 24 points from Edwards and 12 points from Jaco. Alexis Lloyd also produced a key nine points for USC in the winning effort. Utah also had three players hit double digits, led by 14 from Malia Nawahine along with 12 from Paige Crozon and 10 from Emily Potter.
The first five minutes was an even fight, with both teams going 3-of-9 from the floor with a 3-pointer apiece as the game snarled up in a 7-7 draw early on. USC would stoke itself into the lead in the final two minutes of the first with some success from the stripe and a couple key buckets from Kriste Simon as the Trojans led 20-17 at the end of the first quarter. USC slipped into a three-minute stretch without a score while the Utes generated an 8-0 run to get back into the lead. USC found a spark in Sadie Edwards next, as the Trojan scored seven straight points for USC to steal back the lead. USC would hold a 36-35 edge with 40 seconds left in the half on back-to-back scores from Edwards. After a Utah basket with 22 ticks to go, Edwards had the last word again. She drained a clutch three before the buzzer to gift the Trojans a 39-37 lead at the break. That secured Edwards as the lone player in double figures by halftime, giving her 12 points with 20 minutes left to go.
Edwards kept her momentum rolling to start out the second half, nailing another 3-pointer that was followed quickly by a bucket from Simon to edge USC ahead 44-37. Later in the third, USC would manufacture a crucial 10-0 scoring surge — all from the hands of Edwards and Courtney Jaco — to get USC a 56-43 advantage with 3:15 left in the frame. USC would continue to fend off the Utes down the stretch and held a 59-47 lead at the close of the third. The Utes would trim the Trojan advantage down to four with six minutes remaining when USC hit a three-minute skid, but the Trojans would regroup in time. Four different Trojans scored in the last five minutes while Utah came up with just one successful trip to the line as USC pressed out to a 70-59 road win.
USC now heads over to Boulder to take on Colorado in a 7 p.m. MT game on Sunday (Jan. 31).
USC 70, UTAH 59
01/29/16 7:00 p.m. MT at Salt Lake City, Utah (Huntsman Center)
USC (16-5, 4-5 Pac-12)
Edwards, Sadie 9-15 4-8 24; Jaco, Courtney 4-9 2-2 12; Simon, Kristen 5-12 2-4 12; Lloyd, Alexis 2-6 4-5 9; Fagbenle, Temi 3-8 2-2 8; Mazyck, Aliyah 1-5 1-2 3; Taito, Khaedin 1-1 0-0 2.
Totals 25-56 15-23 70.
UTAH (12-8, 4-5 Pac-12)
Nawahine, Malia 4-11 5-7 14; Crozon, Paige 4-10 4-4 12; Potter, Emily 5-9 0-0 10; Boclair, Tanaeya 4-6 0-0 8; Fatuesi, Joeseta 3-6 1-1 7; Rodriguez, Danielle 3-12 0-0 6; Kuklok, Katie 1-4 0-0 2; Owens, Devri 0-1 0-0 0; Bean, Erika 0-1 0-0 0; Bowie, Gabrielle 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 24-60 10-12 59.
USC........................ 20 19 20 11 - 70
Utah.......................... 17 20 12 10 - 59
3-point goals--USC-W 5-14 (Edwards, Sadie 2-4; Jaco, Courtney 2-5; Lloyd, Alexis 1-2; Mazyck, Aliyah 0-3), Utah 1-6 (Nawahine, Malia 1-3; Kuklok, Katie 0-2; Owens, Devri 0-1). Fouled out--USC-W-None, Utah-Potter, Emily. Rebounds--USC-W 37 (Fagbenle, Temi 12), Utah 35 (Boclair, Tanaeya 8). Assists--USC-W 11 (Fagbenle, Temi 2; Jaco, Courtney 2; Lloyd, Alexis 2; Mazyck, Aliyah 2), Utah 12 (Rodriguez, Danielle 5). Total fouls--USC-W 12, Utah 21. Technical fouls--USC-W-None, Utah-None. A-1621
