USC women’s basketball’s win over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday was something to build on. For starters, Jazzy Davidson had a very efficient 20 points and hauled in 16 rebounds. For another, USC played very solid in the post both offensively and defensively. Even though it was a game USC was already expected to win handily, it still felt like a step forward for the Trojans.
It wasn’t a perfect product. USC struggled to rebound and Kennedy Smith is still searching for her first efficient offensive performance of the season. But growth is what you want to see from a young, talented team that hopes to make a deep NCAA tournament run, and that never comes all at once. It comes in Waves.
Which is a pun, you see. Because USC’s next opportunity to grow comes against the Pepperdine Waves.
What will this game hold for USC? Here are five things to watch as USC continues its homestand against Southern California rival Pepperdine on Friday:
Can Kara Dunn or Kennedy Smith bounce back?
Kennedy Smith has had a rough time shooting the basketball to start the season. Most recently against Tennessee Tech, she had only 9 points on 3-10 shooting.
Dunn was even less of a factor against Tennessee Tech offensively, scoring 5 points on 2-7 shooting. But unlike Smith, Dunn has had some great offensive performances this season, including a 21 point outing against Notre Dame (8-11 shooting).
Will Smith finally find her mojo and look like the big scorer every Trojan fan knows she can be? Will Dunn look like she should be USC’s primary scoring option once again?
Hopefully both things happen!
Jazzy Davidson: USC’s leading rebounder?
Yes, it was a non conference game. But 16 rebounds for Jazzy Davidson against Tennessee Tech?! That’s still ridiculous.
Especially given that no one else on the Trojans snagged more than 6 rebounds on Tuesday and that USC has struggled to rebound in general to open the season.
It’s a great, aggressive mentality for USC to see from its young star. Hopefully her aggressiveness on the boards will carry over to games against tougher, bigger opponents than Tennessee Tech.
Pepperdine will be the next test of that.
Another big night for the bigs?
USC feasted on Tennessee Tech’s lack of size on Tuesday night more than they have all season. Vivian Iwuchukwu was USC’s third leading scorer with 11 points, Yakiya Milton had 7 points and 6 rebounds, Laura Williams had 4 blocks. It was a great night for USC’s post players.
Pepperdine is a little bigger than Tennessee Tech, but the Trojans still have a size advantage on the Waves. Can USC’s post players build confidence with another good night as a unit?
Rian Forestier: in the rotation?
Normally a deep reserve that doesn’t play until the game is out of hand, Forestier played a whopping 11 minutes on Tuesday. She played more than Yakiya Milton, a player who has securely been in Lindsay Gottlieb’s rotation throughout the early season.
Okay, so the game was still out of hand when Forestier entered this time. But she had a solid 11 minutes, including scoring 6 points and dishing out an assist.
Garbage time is one avenue players that are not in the rotation can use to make an impression that gets them into the rotation. Did Forestier do that Tuesday?
The turnover numbers
USC has struggled to take care of the basketball early in the season. The Trojans had 13 turnovers against Tennessee Tech, which isn’t awful, but isn’t great either.
A great sign of progress would be if the Trojans have less turnovers against Pepperdine than they did against Tennessee Tech despite the Waves having a lengthier defense.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: 5 things to watch in USC women’s basketball’s game vs Pepperdine
Reporting by Ethan Inman, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
