Washington Rallies Late But Falls 72-61 to USC

Sunday, January 28

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

7-14, 1-9Pac-12

USC

15-6, 5-5Pac-12

USC

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

January 28, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SEATTLE – Washington fell behind early and despite a late rally was not able to dig out of the hole, falling 72-61 to USC on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies fall to 7-14 with their second-straight loss and to 1-9 in the conference. The Trojans improve to 15-6 and to 5-5 in the conference on the heels of their third-straight victory.

Amber Melgoza was the lone Washington player in double-figures, scoring 25 points including 13 in the fourth quarter. It was her ninth game with 20 or more points this year including the third time in her last four games.

Hannah Johnson and Mai-Loni Henson each recorded nine points for the Huskies with Kierra Collier contributing eight.

The Huskies trailed by as many as 27 in the first half, but mounted an impressive comeback, outscoring the Trojans 53-27 the rest of the way. Washington won the second half and closed the gap to 10 in the fourth quarter, but could get no closer.

Turnovers were the Achilles' heel for the Huskies, who committed 21 turnovers leading to 30 USC points. Washington also allowed 36 points in the paint and was out-rebounded 39-22—the fewest rebounds for the Huskies this season.

Sadie Edwards led all scorers with 26 points for the Trojans while Kristen Simon and Aliyah Mazyck each added 16 points. Simon was a dominate force inside, adding 14 rebounds—half of which came on the offensive end.

The teams opened the game by exchanging three-pointers, but USC scored five quick to take an 8-3 lead three minutes in. Melgoza ended the run with a three after a pair of offensive rebound. But the Huskies went cold from the field as USC went on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to take a commanding 22-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. After opening the game hitting two of their first six shots, the Huskies went 0-for-10 over the rest of the quarter, finishing by making just 2-of-16 in the period.

USC carried the run into the second quarter scoring the first bucket before Johnson hit a mid-range jumper to end the scoreless streak at 7:50. However, the Trojans kept the run going by scoring the next 10 points, opening up a 35-8 lead after 5:34. Washington started to come alive after that, with Johnson and Melgoza keying a 7-0 run over the next two minutes. The two teams would exchange buckets over the next three minutes as USC took a commanding 40-19 lead into the half.

The Huskies shot much better in the second quarter, hitting 5-of-9 from the field, but committing nine turnovers leading to 13 USC points. The 19 points scored by Washington in the first half was a season low for any half.

In the third quarter, the Huskies started strong with a defensive stop, then layup by Kierra Collier. After a steal by Khayla Rooks, Johnson hit a fastbreak layup to cut it to 40-23. After a USC free throw, Johnson got an easy layup but the Trojans answered with a 9-2 run, going back up by 23 at 50-27 with 4:48 left. Washington would outscore USC 11-7 over the final four minutes of the quarter, matching its entire first half total in the quarter with 19 points. However, the Huskies still trailed 57-38 through 30 minutes.

Washington opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run and closed the gap to 14 at 59-45 with 7:15 left. But the Trojans were able to stave off the charge by the Huskies using a 6-2 run over the next four minutes to stretch the lead back to 19 at the 3:35 mark. Washington would mount one final charge, using an 11-2 run thanks in large part to three-straight three-pointers from Melgoza, Collier than Rooks. The final three closed the gap to 10 at 66-56 with 1:50 left. USC ended the run with a corner three, but Melgoza came down and converted a three-point play to make it 10 again but with just 1:02 left. The Huskies would be unable to get any closer as the Trojans converted three of four down the stretch.

For the eighth time in 10 conference games, the Huskies were plagued by one bad quarter. In this game it was the first quarter coming on the heels of a bad fourth quarter against UCLA on Friday. Washington has been outscored by an average of 13.8 points in that one bad quarter, but has outscored its opponents by an average of 5.4 points the rest of the game. Sunday, the Huskies were outscored by 16 in the first quarter, but outscored USC by five points over the next three quarters.

We've got to find a way to stop the drought," said Head Coach Jody Wynn. "They speed us up. They were physical, athletic and strong and they forced us into turning the ball over unlike we had turned the ball over all year. We needed to settle down a little bit and play a little bit under control because their closing speed was just too good."

Today's game showdown between USC coach Mark Trakh and Wynn. Wynn played for Trakh in high school and was an assistant at Pepperdine and USC under Trakh for 10 years. This was the first game they have coached against each other.

The loss was Washington's first against USC since March 1, 2012 when the Trojans beat the Huskies 62-55 in Seattle. UW had won the last eight games in the series including sweeping the series last season.

The Huskies hit the road for their next two games, traveling to the desert to face No. 25 Arizona State on Friday before taking on Arizona on Sunday.