USC
2-0
UC Riverside
1-1
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
USC Women Climb To 67-49 Win Over UC Riverside
November 16, 2016 | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The USC women's basketball team received a relentless effort from freshman Minyon Moore to help the Women of Troy power up for a 67-49 win over visiting UC Riverside tonight at the Galen Center. Moore registered a game-high 20 points along with six assists and six steals to spark USC, which trailed the Highlanders in the first quarter before forging a path to victory. Now 2-0 on the year, the Women of Troy will now turn to their first road trip of the season. UC Riverside goes to 1-1 with the loss to USC.
A 9-0 USC rally in the second quarter helped the Trojans get into the driver's seat in this one. USC could barely buy a bucket in the first 10 minutes, but free throws kept the Trojans in the game. In the next stretch, USC was able to piece together a comeback effort and take over the lead. On just 33 percent shooting in the first half, USC was able to work out ahead of UC Riverside — which shot 42 percent — to grip a 34-26 halftime advantage. That was in large part due to a heroic effort from freshman Minyon Moore, who had 13 points by the break and had nailed her first career 3-pointer along the way. Moore would remain key to the USC gameplan down the stretch, although several other Trojans also stepped up to keep USC's momentum going in the right direction. Valerie Higgins buried her first career 3-pointer as a Trojan midway through the third to help USC along on a scoring rally that turned a four-point game into a double-digit USC lead. By the final buzzer, USC had shot 37 percent from the floor to UC Riverside's 38 percent, but the Trojans had nailed six 3-pointers and forced 29 turnovers out of the Highlanders to keep the upper hand. USC also held a slight edge on the boards tonight, 39-38.
USC's Moore wrapped up with a game-high 20 points along with those six assists and six steals, while Sadie Edwards added 10 poitns for the Trojans. Kristen Simon and Jordan Adams hauled in eight rebounds apiece, and Courtney Jaco dealt out five assists for USC. UC Riverside had three players finish in double figures, led by a double-double from Rejane Verin (15 points, 10 rebounds). Simone DeCoud and Skyler Lewis added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Highlanders.
A slow start for the Women of Troy forced the hosts to play catchup with the Highlanders. UC Riverside forged ahead 6-2 early with a 6-0 run before Minyon Moore converted from the free-throw line. The freshman would pump in two more tosses form the stripe two minutes later to help give her Trojans a boost as USC's shooting percentage from the floor dipped to 11 percent. Free throws would be the key to USC's maneuvering back into the lead. The Trojans would string together six straight points from the line get USC back the lead. Soon after Moore nabbed managed back-to-back buckets to end eight minutes without a score from the floor for USC. Moore's efforts tugged the Trojans ahead 14-8 entering the final minute of the first, though turnovers fed into the Highlander counterattack to finish out the frame with USC clinging to a 14-13 advantage.
Moore would continue to charge up the Trojans as she went to the hoop for a runner that notched her 10th points of the game to kick off the second quarter of play. Courtney Jaco landed her first 3-pointer of the game next, and USC's offensive setup was starting to fall back into place. Sadie Edwards would get in on the scoring for USC soon after, helping the Trojans to a 23-17 lead. UC Riverside didn't back down, though, closing back to within two before Ja'Tavia Tapley hit her first bucket of the game to make it 25-21 Trojans with 4:55. USC's freshmen kept plugging away, too. Moore buried the first 3-pointer of her Trojan career, and Valerie Higgins scored her first career points as a Trojan with a successful trip to the line to help carry USC along on a 7-0 rally to a 30-21 lead with three minutes left in the half. That run would get up to 9-0 before UC Riverside knocked down five straight free throws to fire back as the half wrapped up with USC holding a 34-26 lead.
In another sluggish start, freshman Higgins came through to punch up USC's first points of the second half, slipping in a score in the paint to make USC's lead 36-30. She'd go on to land her first career 3-pointer later, following a jumper from Jordan Adams to build a 41-30 USC lead with 5:30 on the clock. USC's 3-point parade continued in the frame, as Sadie Edwards and Aliyah Mazyck also struck from beyond the arc, with Mazyck's bomb taking the Trojans ahead 49-34 in the final minute of the third. In the fourth, UC Riverside struck first, only to see the Trojans up the defensive pressure and reap the benefits, striking off on a 10-0 surge with two more buckets from Moore coming in the rally to a 59-38 advantage. USC would stay the course the rest of the way while Moore worked her way to a game-high 20 points and Edwards joined her in double digits with 10 as she landed a pair of threes in the fourth to help finish out a 67-49 win for the Women of Troy.
The Trojans now shove off on their first road trip of the season. USC first visits UNLV for a 4 p.m. face-off with the Rebels on Saturday (Nov. 19). Then, USC sets its course for Anchorage to take part in the Great Alaska Shootout. The Trojans open up against Missouri State on Tuesday (Nov. 22) and will face either Portland or host Alaska-Anchorage on Wednesday (Nov. 23).
