USC
2-1
UNLV
3-0
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
USC Women Outgunned By UNLV 77-66
November 19, 2016 | Women's Basketball
LAS VEGAS, NEV. — The USC women's basketball team took its first loss of the season in its first road trip of the 2016-17 campaign, falling 77-66 to a hot-shooting UNLV squad tonight in Las Vegas. The Rebels' 3-point effort proved the back-breaker for the Trojans in this one, as UNLV nailed 11 threes to keep USC at bay. The Women of Troy go to 2-1 on the year with the loss, while UNLV improves to 3-0.
USC's offense was paced by two seniors in double digits. Courtney Jaco finished up with 16 points, and Jordan Adams added 13 for the Trojans, who wound up shooting 44.6% from the floor and 46% from the free-throw line, hitting 4-of-14 from 3-point range. UNLV had five players hit double figures, led by Katie Powell's 16 points on a perfect 4-of-4 outing from beyond the arc. Nikki Wheatley and Dakota Gonzalez each had 14, and Paris Strawther and Brooke Johnson added 13 apiece. The Rebels also won out on the boards 46-31, led by Jordyn Bell's 11 rebounds.
In a streaky first half, both teams took turns chipping away at one another. An early 8-0 run pulled the Trojans to an 8-2 lead, but the Rebels were resolute in ensuring USC never got too far out of their sights. UNLV kept burying 3-pointers to keep pace with USC, while the referee's whistle kept the game from getting into a flow. The Rebels hit 6-of-10 threes in the first half to just a single three by USC. The Trojans were hitting at a 48-percent clip from everywhere else on the floor — except the free-throw line. UNLV went 15-of-24 from the free-throw line in the first 20 minutes, outpacing the Trojans, whose visits were less frequent but who didn't make the most of those limited opportunities in hitting just 6-of-13.
The Women of Troy would craft their largest lead of the half with an early bucket in the second quarter to make it a 23-16 USC lead. UNLV had an answer while USC's efforts stagnated as the foul count mounted. UNLV's with 3-pointer of the half locked up the game at 32-32 with 4:20 to go. Courtney Jaco would break through for the go-ahead bucket for USC at 3:35, but no more field goals would drop for either team the rest of the half as only free throws fell in that final stretch. UNLV scored the last six points of the half all from the stripe to build a 39-35 halftime lead.
The threes kept coming for the Rebels in the second half, as UNLV managed to snuff every offensive spark the Trojans would find with a big play at the other end. Slowly but surely, USC's deficit grew as the Women of Troy struggled to solve the Rebel attack. Jordan Adams drained a three that looked like a pick-me-up for USC, but UNLV answered with back-to-back threes of its own, and the Trojans wound up in a 65-52 hole entering the fourth quarter. There, UNLV opened up with five quick points to put the Trojans on their heels, down 69-52. Courtney Jaco would work her way into double digits, joining Adams in that category, but it wasn't enough to melt down the Rebels' lead in the remaining time. Jaco hit a buzzer-beater, and that wrapped the game as a 77-66 USC loss to host UNLV.
The Women of Troy now turn to a trip to Alaska to compete in the Great Alaska Shootout next week. USC opens with a clash against Missouri State on Tuesday (Nov. 22) and then faces either Portland or host Alaska-Anchorage on Wednesday (Nov. 23).
