No. 8 USC vs Seton Hall | 2023 Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship | 11.20.23

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - The No. 8 USC women's basketball team put forth a powerful first-quarter effort to help secure the Trojans' fourth win of the season, beating Seton Hall 64-54 tonight at the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas. Rayah Marshall hauled in her 22nd career double-double on the night as USC owned the boards and improved to 4-0 on the year, while Seton Hall goes to 3-2.
USC shot a steamy 52 percent from the floor in the first half, generating a 14-0 lead early to get into the driver's seat. Seton Hall went 30.3 percent from the floor in those first 20 minutes as the Trojans led things 38-28 at the break. The second half saw a dip for the Trojans on the offensive end, as USC scored just eight points in the fourth while finishing up shooting 44 percent overall. The Pirates, meanwhile warmed up to 40.4 percent by the final buzzer, although USC's strong first quarter proved the key difference in this one. The Trojans won out on the boards 39-28, led by Rayah Marshall's second double-double of the season with a game-high 15 rebounds to go with her 14 points.
USC also received a team-high 15 points from JuJu Watkins, who has served up a team-high scoring effort in all four of her games as a Trojan this season. Also netting double digits for USC tonight was Kaitlyn Davis with 113 points and McKenzie Forbes with 12. Seton Hall was led by Azana Baines with 16 points and 14 points from Micah Gray.
USC unleashed a 9-0 rally with four different Trojans cashing in along the way to crafting a 13-3 lead, prompting Seton Hall to call a timeout at 4:37. Kayla Padilla drained a three to net that 13-3 advantage, and then with USC's defense stating stingy the Trojans pressed on and expanded their scoring surge to 14 straight to lead it 18-3. The Pirates ended almost six minutes of silence with a bucket, only to see JuJu Watkins land a three for the Trojan cause, and Kaitlyn Davis would wrap the first frame with a successful late trip to the stripe to net a 23-7 lead for USC after 10 minutes of play. SHU found a scoring touch out of the gates of the second and mounted a 7-1 rally to get within 10 three minutes in. A Padilla stuff helped take the ball the other way, with McKenzie Forbes knocking down a three to get USC a lift ahead 31-18. The Pirates carved back to single digits at 31-23, but USC responded with a Padilla three and a spicy take to the hoop from Watkins, then a late make from Davis to give USC a 38-23 lead at the break.
The teams stayed in stride in the early goings of the third, going bucket-for-bucket through the first five minutes before Kaitlyn Davis scored seven straight points to lift USC up 52-33 with 2:59 on the clock. SHU landed a three, only to see Marshall get to a double-double in the final minute, recording her 10th rebound and then adding four points to her tally to land at 10 and take the Trojans ahead 56-36 entering the fourth. The Pirates manufactured a 6-1 rally to open the final frame, cutting the margin to 57-44 with 6:30 to go. USC finally scored from the floor at 5:18 when Marshall hauled in a rebound and put it back to make it 60-44 USC. USC came up empty for another stretch while SHU hit a couple more, and it was 60-49 USC with 3:00 on the clock. Marshall struck again from the paint, and USC fended off the Pirates enough to close out a 64-54 win.
NEXT:
USC continues its competition at the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau with a Wednesday (Nov. 22) meeting against Penn State at 9 p.m. ET.
NOTABLE:
- USC's No. 8 ranking in the AP poll is its highest national ranking since a No. 7 spot in 1994.
- With 14 points and 15 rebounds, JR Rayah Marshall recorded her second double-double of the season and 23rd of her USC career.
- With a season-high 12 points tonight, GS McKenzie Forbes recorded her second double-digit game as a Trojan.
- With 13 points tonight, GS Kaitlyn Davis recorded her first double-digit game as a Trojan.
- USC had a season-high four Trojans score in double figures tonight.
- With a team-high 15 points tonight, FR JuJu Watkins has scored more points (100) in her first four games as a Trojan than Cheryl Miller (77) and Lisa Leslie (84) did in their first four games at USC.
- USC is now 4-0 all-time against Seton Hall in a series dating back to 1997-98.

[@torrinbianchi5283]

Audio sounding like R2-D2

[@jameskinard9835]

Juju Watkins is an exceptional talent, but USC is a low tier ranked team without her (if that). I love watching the Trojans because of Juju, but I don't love their chances this year. Like Iowa, those teams that rely heavily on one person have major drawbacks, and other schools are getting better at defending those types of game plans. Teams like Duke and Davidson are a nightmare matchup for USC, but Juju is clutch... Really damn clutch. Hard to count this team out, but there will be a ceiling for this team this year.

[@dylankenney9323]

I hope the team sees this comment Oompf

[@Kasumii_x]

Agreed

[@OriginalJohnDoeFakersBeware]

Too bad they aren't getting crowd.