Her USC crew might need dropped 5 of its final six video games, greater than it misplaced all of final season, whereas the highway forward could possibly be one thing of an uphill climb, with 4 of its remaining 10 video games in opposition to top-12 groups.
However on no account, at 11-8, is coach Lindsay Gottlieb able to wave the white flag on USC’s season or its NCAA event hopes. Fairly the opposite, in truth.
“There’s a ton of season left,” Gottlieb stated confidently Friday, two days earlier than USC was set to face off with No. 7 Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Trojans had simply fallen brief in opposition to Michigan State 74-68, the night time earlier than.
“We all know we’re proper there,” the coach continued. “However proper there isn’t ok. We’re not happy with that. However for this crew, if we proceed to determine the issues out which might be retaining us from getting over the hump, you recognize, then we predict that we are able to do some harm.”
It actually appeared that approach in the beginning of January, when the Trojans have been 10-3 and appeared to have discovered some type of stride with out injured celebrity JuJu Watkins. However the void she’d left in USC’s lineup turned notably noticeable within the new 12 months, as a blowout loss to UCLA, the most important defeat of Gottlieb’s tenure, left USC reeling. Sophomore wing Kennedy Smith went down with an damage after that, and USC blew a fourth-quarter result in Oregon a couple of nights later. In three of their subsequent 4 video games — in opposition to Minnesota, Maryland and Michigan State — USC failed in some style to ship down the stretch.
But none of these losses, Gottlieb factors out, has been all that detrimental to the Trojans’ event resume. Not but, at the least. USC nonetheless sits at No. 25 within the NET rankings, due to its grueling nonconference schedule to start out the season. The Trojans are 9-1 in video games in opposition to Quad 2, 3 and 4 opponents, though they’re 2-7 in opposition to top-tier opponents at the moment ranked as Quad 1.
That pattern can’t maintain if USC hopes to make the NCAA event for the fourth consecutive season below Gottlieb, a streak that USC’s girls’s basketball program hasn’t matched since Cheryl Miller walked the sideline. However following Sunday’s matchup with Michigan, USC should take care of one other top-10 crew when Iowa involves Galen Heart.
The schedule ought to get simpler after that, with matchups by means of February in opposition to Rutgers (9-10), Northwestern (8-11), Indiana (11-9) and Penn State (7-13), all of which rank within the backside third of the convention. But the margin for error by means of that stretch, contemplating USC’s eight losses, is razor skinny.
“Our entire mindset is simply wanting ahead,” guard Kara Dunn stated. “We have now so many alternatives forward to show issues round.”
Most of these alternatives of late have been on account of Dunn, who has been dynamic for the reason that begin of the brand new 12 months. She’s averaging greater than 24 factors over USC’s final 5.
It was exactly the position she’d envisioned when she dedicated to Gottlieb and USC, in quest of a extra free-flowing, pro-style offense. However it will take some adjusting, just like the way it took time for switch ahead Kiki Iriafen to settle into the offense final season.
“I used to be simply looking for the place I match,” Dunn stated.
USC guard Kara Dunn has discovered her stride throughout the brand new 12 months, averaging greater than 24 factors over their final 5 video games.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Occasions)
She discovered it simply in time, with freshman Jazzy Davidson mired in a multi-game hunch. Davidson has nonetheless been among the finest freshmen in faculty basketball this season, however she’s capturing solely 38% from the sphere this season. Smith, the Trojans’ third-leading scorer, has been even streakier at 35%. Each have struggled particularly from the three-point line in latest video games, capturing a mixed 4 of 26 over their final three video games.
Happily for USC, Dunn has stepped up from deep of their absence, hitting 44% of her three-point makes an attempt over the past 4 to maintain the Trojans afloat on offense. Towards Purdue, in USC’s solely win in January, Dunn dropped a season-high 29.
“I’m actually simply remembering who I’m and who I used to be beforehand,” Dunn stated. “I’m used to scoring in excessive numbers.”
USC will want her contributions to proceed if it hopes to make any noise come March. There’s little Gottlieb can do now in regards to the limitations in USC’s frontcourt, which has relied all season on a four-way rotation at heart. However Davidson continues to make progress in her first season, whereas Dunn’s emergence has helped take stress off the Trojans’ spectacular freshman.
As Gottlieb gathered her crew for a gathering on Friday, she urged her gamers to be taught from the onerous classes of the final three weeks. Now was no time to sound any alarm bells, she assured, with hopes that they stick collectively from right here.
“The one approach by means of a storm is to not pull off of the highway,” Gottlieb stated, “however to maintain going by means of it.”
