Ryan Kartje (LA Times)  —  SPOKANE, Wash. — It was never a question of belief. Even in the throes of a nightmare scenario, forced to forge ahead without USC’s biggest, brightest star, Lindsay Gottlieb had done all she could to keep doubt from creeping in, all while the college basketball world crossed the Trojans off.

All week her team echoed the coach’s confidence, kindly reassuring the skeptics that they never would waver, with or without JuJu Watkins.

How many actually were convinced, the world may never know. Few outside of their locker room knew what the Trojans were capable of without Watkins, whose season-ending knee injury loomed large over the team and the NCAA tournament. Fewer still would believe two freshmen, two novices to March’s madness, would be the ones to step valiantly into that void Saturday.

But in the final minutes against Kansas State, at the tail end of a back-and-forth battle, it was the most unproven among the Trojans who helped lift them to the Elite Eight with a 67-61 win, setting up a rematch with Connecticut on Monday.

“What can I say about our freshmen class?” a smiling Gottlieb declared from the podium. “They’re winners above everything else.”

Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell signed on with the nation’s top recruiting class knowing full well their roles would look different from the starring ones they had in high school. Both were McDonald’s All-Americans, joining a roster ready-made for a deep tournament run. Both accepted long ago that playing alongside Watkins, a star with unparalleled gravitational pull, meant sometimes simply lingering in her orbit, waiting for the moment to come.

Still, Gottlieb made clear her expectations for USC’s seven freshmen in a Zoom with their families last summer. She told them then, after USC’s first Elite Eight run, that the bar had been raised. It was up to them to meet it.

“I knew coming in we were going to have some tough games,” Smith said. “So I’m ready for the moment. Even in high school, just the balance with that, I think I was prepared to be in the position I am right now.”

That much was clear Saturday, at the most critical juncture in the Trojans’ season. After a season spent in supporting roles, filling in wherever they could, both Smith and Howell stepped seamlessly into the spotlight of the Sweet 16, carrying USC with a combined 37 points.

“It falls back on our preparation that we’ve done all season,” Howell said. “It just carries over to these moments, and I think that we’re so deep on this team and everyone plays such a valuable role, that if someone’s not hitting, we have someone else to rely on.”

There was no real way to prepare for the scenario that USC faced, down one star, while another had been neutralized. For Gottlieb it meant going “deeper in the bag” of what USC’s offense could do.

Iriafen fought through relentless double teams just to cobble together seven points and eight rebounds.“I have to figure out how I can play out of those double teams,” Iriafen said after. “How do I keep impacting the game, even though they’re double-teaming me?

Turns out, the answer was to find the freshmen. Though, Smith took matters into her own hands first.

The freshman from Etiwanda High established the tone early for the Trojans, scoring 11 of their first 13 points, more than she’d scored in any game the last month. It turned out to be her most consequential stretch of the season, as the rest of the team shot a paltry 21% in the first half, yet the Trojans trailed by just two at the half.

“When we were stagnant, she kept getting buckets for us,” Iriafen said of Smith. “She’s such a key player for this team and has really helped us become a contender.”

Both freshmen were at their best in the final minutes, with Kansas State still within a bucket or two.

USC guard Avery Howell shoots under pressure from Kansas State guard Zyanna Walker during the second half Saturday. (Young Kwak / AP)

With less than two minutes remaining and the lead at just one point, Smith knocked down two free throws. Then, as Kansas State took the ball up the court, she poked it away, taking off in transition. She was fouled and hit one of two free throws, just enough to push USC’s lead to two possessions.

Kansas State’s Serena Sundell cut the lead to two with 1:14 remaining, giving the Wildcats a window. But a corner three from Kansas State clanked away, and the ball ended up in Howell’s hands. The freshman hit two more critical free throws to push the lead to four, putting the Wildcats away for good.

It took a group effort to get them there, just like Gottlieb promised. Smith scored a season-high 19. Howell, who stepped into the starting lineup in Watkins’ place, tied a season high with 18. Rayah Marshall had 10 points and nine rebounds while holding Lee to 12 points.

Another freshman, Kayleigh Heckel (below), played a critical role as a spark plug off the bench, scoring eight key points. Heckel was an interrupting force, in attack mode 100% of the time.

Altogether, the sum of the Trojans’ supporting parts were enough to put away Kansas State. Whether it’s enough to get past Paige Bueckers (who dropped a career-high 40 points in UConn’s 67-59 Sweet 16 victory over Oklahoma) and red-hot Connecticut is another question entirely. They meet again at 6 p.m. Monday.

The weight of Watkins’ absence still loomed large over the proceedings. The team strode into the arena wearing black shirts with her signature bun peeking out from a Nike swoosh. Red No. 12 jerseys still dotted the stands. A Funko pop figurine of Watkins, with USC in spirit, was present on the sideline, passed between teammates on the bench.

“There’s so much love for JuJu in our program, and everyone values her and knows nobody’s like her, and we’ve kind of kept her close,” Gottlieb said. “But I don’t think we’ve ever had this feeling of, ‘Oh, no, all of our goals are gone.’ And neither has JuJu.”

“We’re taking her competitive nature onto the court with us every single time we step there,” Howell said. “And we know that she’s back home supporting us, having a watch party, doing everything she can to give us that good JuJu.”

But on the court, for one game at least, her absence functioned as only a footnote in the final result, on a night that belonged to USC’s freshmen.

The last time a USC women’s basketball team made consecutive trips to the Elite Eight, a sophomore named Cheryl Miller was leading them and it was 1984.

“There’s a level of excellence that’s needed at this program,” Howell said. “Starting from our coaching staff’s expectations to the greatness that’s been here in the past. Coming here, we knew there was going to be that level that we had to get to … and this is definitely a moment that everyone wants to be a part of.”

The moment, none too big for these young women, was a big-league gut test. The Trojans (31-3) never led by more than seven and they trailed – by as many as five – or were tied for significant stretches.

latimes.com