USC Plays Michigan Saturday at Noon PT

Ben Bolch (LA Times)  —  INDIANAPOLIS — Lindsay Gottlieb had warned of this very possibility, that her team’s opener in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament might have the feel of an NCAA tournament game given the conference’s slew of quality teams.

Never mind that USC was top-seeded, second-ranked nationally and riding a seven-game winning streak.

Nothing was going to be easy. Especially given the crowd.

Every time ninth-seeded Indiana made the slightest run Friday afternoon inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, what amounted to a home crowd for the Hoosiers buoyed them with more noise.

The place was rocking early in the fourth quarter when Indiana’s Yarden Garzon rose for a three-pointer that pulled the heavy underdogs to within two points, raising the possibility of a cinematic “Hoosiers”-style upset.

Then the Trojans reminded everyone why they were top-seeded, second-ranked nationally and riding a seven-game winning streak.

With every smooth move by guard JuJu Watkins and fearless jumper by forward Kiki Iriafen, USC offered a rebuttal that affirmed its standing and quieted the fans. The Hoosiers were within three points when back-to-back three-pointers from Talia von Oelhoffen and Watkins gave the Trojans a nine-point lead with 2 minutes 42 seconds left that finally deflated the fans.

USC was finally on its way to an 84-79 quarterfinal victory that fulfilled its coach’s prediction for high drama.

Scoring on an array of moves heavy on floaters and driving layups, Watkins led her team with 31 points on 10-for-19 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and three steals. She also repeatedly got to the foul line and made 10 of 13 free throws. It was Watkins’ 21st career game with at least 30 points, ranking her second in school history behind Cheryl Miller (25).

Iriafen added 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists before fouling out with 54 seconds left, giving the Trojans their usual one-two punch.

“Our two All-Americans,” Gottlieb said, “played like All-Americans.”

“I think knowing what’s on the line, all the games are going to be like that,” Watkins said. “We don’t expect to just go in there and blow the other team out because there’s so much on the line and this conference is so good.”

Garzon scored 23 points for the Hoosiers (19-12), who shot 39.7% to USC’s 46.8% and were outrebounded by five. Indiana stayed in the game largely as a result of making eight of 19 three-pointers (42.1%) thanks to an offense that sometimes positioned all five players beyond the arc before finding cutters to the basket.

“That gives a lot of people problems,” Gottlieb said of the Hoosiers’ offense. “I thought early on we did a nice job on the three-point line and gave up two many easy twos; we wanted to make them take tough twos. I thought later in the game our disruption started to play a factor in it.”

The Trojans played without center-forward Rayah Marshall because of an unspecified illness, taking more than her averages of 7.4 points and 8.6 rebounds off the board. Her absence inside the paint forced USC to go with a small starting lineup that allowed the Hoosiers to pile up plenty of early backdoor points. Gottlieb said she was hopeful that Marshall could return Saturday.

USC’s Kiki Iriafen muscles a shot over Indiana forward Karoline Striplin in the first half of Friday’s game. Iriafen scored 21 points before fouling out against the Hoosiers. (Michael Conroy / AP)

After Indiana’s Lilly Meister found a clear path to the basket for a layup, the Hoosiers held a 14-11 lead that had their fans roaring and forced Gottlieb to call timeout. Needing their best player to step up, the Trojans got a boost when Watkins drove for a layup and later leaped to steal a pass that led to another layup. USC rolled off eight consecutive points to quiet the crowd. Only for the moment.

After one three-pointer by Garzon rattled out of the rim, causing her to bury her head in her hands in frustration as she ran back down the court, Garzon got her next one to bounce off the front of the rim and hit the backboard before falling through the net. The crowd was rocking again, the Hoosiers showing they would not be intimidated while trailing only 38-34 at halftime.

The Trojans had the answers needed for the Hoosiers and the crowd. In the final minute, a pack of USC fans behind the Trojans bench provided the soundtrack.

“We are SC!” they chanted.

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 five-point loss was closer than expected.

latimes.com

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