JuJu Watkins drops 31 points as USC beats Indiana, advances to Big Ten semi

Behind JuJu Watkins‘ 31 points, the USC women’s basketball team survived a pesky Indiana Hoosiers squad to advance to the semi-finals of the Big Ten women’s tournament.

Watkins and the Trojans continuously built leads throughout Friday’s game, but the Hoosiers wouldn’t go away quietly. USC, though, stayed composed and edged out an 84-79 victory.

It was Watkins’ seventh game scoring 30-plus points this season and the Trojans’ eighth consecutive win as they continue to build momentum for a deep postseason run.

Watkins got things going early with a signature euro-step layup. She scored 16 points in the first half, driving the lane aggressively for finger rolls, initiating contact to get to the free-throw line, where she shot 6-for-6. She added two pull-up mid-range jump shots as USC took a four-point lead into the break.

Indiana captured a 44-43 lead early in the second half, but Watkins answered with a pair of off-balanced floaters that would be awkward for almost any other player. The second one was an and-one that put USC back up 53-48.

Indiana again cut the lead back down to two by the end of the third quarter. Watkins scored seven points in the final frame, including a 3-pointer with 2:42 remaining that extended the Trojans’ lead to 77-68, its biggest of the game. Watkins played all but one minute of Friday’s game. She had three steals and 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.

USC forward Kiki Iriafen added 21 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Avery Howell had 10 points, knocking down a pair of 3s. Friday marked No. 2 USC’s first game in the Big Ten Tournament after winning the conference’s regular-season crown. They achieved that thanks to a pair of wins over No. 4 UCLA and may have to go through the Bruins again to win the Big Ten Tournament.

The Trojans (27-2 overall, 17-1 Big Ten) will play fifth-seeded Michigan (22-9, 11-7) in the semifinals on Saturday.

Yarden Garzon had 23 points to lead the Hoosiers (19-12), making five of her six baskets from 3-point range. She also had eight rebounds and Shay Ciezki added 15 points as Indiana’s two-game winning streak ended.

It looked as if the Trojans might pull away when they used a 13-4 run to take a 55-48 lead late in the third quarter, but Indiana charged back within 59-57 entering the fourth. USC pulled away again with a 9-3 spurt to make it 71-63 with 5:15 to play.

The Hoosiers never recovered.

Indiana Hoosiers vs. USC Trojans Big Ten Tournament Highlights | CBB on FOX

Takeaways

Indiana: The Hoosiers probably locked up an NCAA Tournament bid with Thursday’s win over Oregon. If there still were doubts, Friday’s game answered those. Indiana executed coach Teri Moren’s game plan almost to perfection and the result was closer than expected.

USC: The Trojans certainly didn’t take the easy route. They looked stale offensively, at times, struggled with fouls on defense and allowed the Hoosiers to hang around most of the game. The bottom line, though: USC survived and advanced.

Key moment

After Indiana cut the deficit to 71-68 late in the fourth, USC answered with back-to-back 3s from Talia von Oelhoffen and Watkins to take its largest lead of the game.