Luca Evans (OC Register)  —  PORTLAND, Ore. — She motored down the floor, an unstoppable force meeting two immovable Baylor defenders, all odds practical and impractical standing firmly in JuJu Watkins’ way.

A period earlier, she’d lingered beyond the arc in disgust, disappointed after another 3-pointer had hit off the rim. She trudged back to her bench in disappointment after a Baylor run to close the third, punctuated by a Bella Fontleroy block of a late Watkins three. A horrendous shooting ledger clung to her No. 12 jersey, her shot reappearing and then disappearing in a blink, as USC faltered Saturday afternoon to a Bears team that would not quit.

But the beauty of Watkins’ game lies in her inevitability. She is unstoppable, simply, because she can be stoppable for three quarters and then suddenly erupt, a freshman with nothing to lose and seemingly endless fuel in the tank.

And in one single fourth-quarter play, she pulled top-seeded USC back from the brink against Baylor, injecting life into a grueling 74-70 win victory Saturday afternoon.

With a trip to the Elite Eight teetering in a tie game, Watkins snared a rebound off a miss from red-hot Baylor guard Jada Walker and took off. Two Bears defenders shadowed her, trying to slow her in transition, the Bears knocking Watkins off-rhythm all night with physicality and scrappy body-bumps.

Not here.

She went straight at both, barreling everyone over as she fell backwards, somehow lofting up a right-handed layup as she fell to the hardwood with a whistle. Banked home. USC’s bench erupted, the contingent of loyal Trojans in the stands shooting to their feet as Watkins’ teammates mobbed her on the floor.

“She’s like watching a cat, to me,” assistant Beth Burns said in February, of Watkins’ defense. “She, like, sits – and then she pounces.”

After Baylor’s Sarah Andrews improbably banked home a late three to cut USC’s lead to one, Watkins hit two free throws and Rayah Marshall added one more – and the celebration began, senior guard Kayla Padilla leaning her head back to the heavens on the bench with fists in the air.

For the first time in 30 years, since the days Cheryl Miller patrolled the sidelines, USC was heading to the Elite Eight. They’ll face the winner of Saturday night’s UConn-Duke game, potentially setting up a tantalizing Naismith finalists’ matchup between freshman Watkins – a force-of-will chaos agent – and hyper-efficient UConn junior guard Paige Bueckers.

Marshall finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds in a dominating performance on the interior. Senior McKenzie Forbes added 14 points, dropping in a number of big-time buckets in crucial situations.

These fourth-seeded Bears were feisty – saying a lot, Gottlieb said at a USC practice this week, because every team left in the Sweet 16 was feisty – and came out swarming. They took a 7-2 lead on USC to start, the first team in weeks to out-hustle the Trojans from the tip, sweat glistening off Watkins’ face just five minutes in.

And Watkins, searching for an offensive spark against a Bears team that hedged aggressively on ball-screens, pressed the issue early, arguably too much. She scored six quick points on layups, but took seven of USC’s first shots; by halftime, she had 15 points but was just 5 for 16, jumpers falling short and floaters rimming off. Baylor matched her and USC’s customary aggression in transition; in the first quarter, after a pull-up momentum triple from Forbes, 5-foot-7 Baylor guard Jada Walker sprinted right back down for a tough lefty finish.

The game slowed in the second quarter, though, to a tempo that favored Marshall and USC. Both teams keyed offense around ball-screen action in an attempt to free up their guards – but Marshall, evolved from a long-armed block merchant as a sophomore to an all-seeing defensive savant as a junior, shut Baylor’s action down repeatedly. Bears guards shot just 5 of 16 in the first half, and Marshall was a prime reason why, hedging hard and recovering to snare rebounds – pulling down 11 in the half.

Her physicality keyed an 8-0 second-quarter run to open some breathing room, but Baylor responded right back, cutting USC’s lead to three early in the third quarter as versatile big Darianna Littlepage-Buggs dropped in eight points in the span of three minutes. She faced up for jumpers, dropping in layups, shoving off Marshall on one bucket for a step-back jumper and bounding back down the floor with a mean-mug.

The third quarter ended in disaster for USC, Baylor continuing to outlet for transition chances. With a little over a minute left, the Bears’ Dre’Una Edwards, the lid suddenly off the rim for Baylor, faced-up for a 3-pointer. Walker up-faked senior Padilla out of her shoes, draining a short midrange – on the next possession, she split a ball-screen and somehow laid up an-around-the-world beauty around the outstretched arms of Marshall and Kaitlyn Davis. Watkins’ last-second heave was swatted away by Baylor’s Bella Fontleroy, and Fontleroy sneered, chest-bumping the Bears as Watkins trudged back to the bench with an ugly ledger and USC in a trouble spot.

The fourth quarter brought the revenge of the nerds, USC’s Ivy League-transfer-triumvirate getting active. Padilla drove to the cup at the start of the quarter, absorbing a bump for an and-one finish. Forbes drained a subsequent pull-up triple, screaming a shrill “Let’s go!” after a Baylor timeout. Davis motored for a spinning layup motors later.

Baylor didn’t stop pushing, Walker scoring five straight to put Baylor up three with four minutes to go, roaring to her bench on the way down. But Watkins buried them – and sent USC roaring into the Elite Eight.

ocregister.com

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