USC (13-6, 3-5) vs WASHINGTON ST. (9-11, 2-6)
7 p.m. | Thursday | Jan. 26, 2018
Pullman Wash. | Beasley Coliseum (11,671)
MATCHUP NOTES
As the season hits its final third, the Cougs take on USC at home Friday for the only matchup between the two teams in 2017-18. WSU does not return the trip this season as part of the unbalanced Pac-12 schedule. Last season, the Cougs pulled off the home sweep of the LA schools for the first time since the 1994-95 season when the Cougs manhandled the Trojans, 74-57, thanks to 22 points out of
Alexys Swedlund. The LA schools would get their revenge later in the season, holding home court against the injury ravaged Cougs. All-time, USC holds a 46-18 record against the Cougs with WSU winning 11 of 30 matchups in Pullman. WSU has recently been more successful winning six of the last 10 meetings overall and the last four in Pullman.
LAST TIME OUT
Down by as much as 19 points in the second half, the Cougars (9-11, 2-6) managed to climb to within three points of the home Huskies (7-12, 1-7) only to come up just short of pulling off the comeback in Seattle Sunday afternoon. In the end, Washington was able to hold off the Cougars charge, winning 56-49, to split the Boeing Apple Cup series with Washington State for the year and earn its first Pac-12 victory of the season. For WSU, the epic comeback was necessary as the Cougars could not get anything going offensively in the first 20 minutes of play, shooting just 19.4% from the floor to allow the Huskies to open up a 17-point lead at intermission. Even after hitting six of their 12 shots in the third quarter did not make much of a dent in Washington's lead as the Cougs stared at a 13-point deficit heading into the fourth. Despite the deficit, the Cougs would continue to push behind the play of
Chanelle Molina,
Nike McClure, and
Kayla Washington who scored 27 of the Cougs' 34 season half points. WSU would chip away at the Huskies' lead until a
Kayla Washington layup with 1:17 got WSU within just one-possession for the first time since the opening moments of the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Cougs, the three-point margin would be as close as they would get as a pair of late mistakes allowed the Huskies to survive the comeback and score the victory on their home court.
ABOUT THE TROJANS
The Trojans enter the weekend just ahead of the Cougs in the Pac-12 having gone 3-5 in Pac-12 play after posting the conference's best non-conference record to start the year under first year head coach Mark Trakh. USC fell twice last week in a pair of close losses at Stanford (59-55) and at No. 21 Cal (62-59). The Trojans essentially run a six-woman rotation with their five starters all averaging over 30 minutes per game with four averaging double-digits in scoring led by Kristen Simon at 17.6 ppg. Simon also leads the Trojans' rebounding efforts with 8.2 rpg. As a team, USC edges the Cougs offensively at 69.6 ppg to WSU's 67.5 ppg but have been excellent on the defensive end giving up just 59.1 ppg, third-best in the Pac-12.
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