A Challenging Schedule and a Harrowing Loss

Lindsay Gottlieb, the head coach of the USC women’s basketball team, has always believed in pushing her team to its limits. To that end, she crafted one of the most difficult schedules in college basketball this season, featuring four games against teams ranked in the top four. The intention was clear: to test the Trojans against the best and prepare them for the challenges ahead.

However, after three of those matchups, the results have been far from encouraging. USC suffered a 17-point loss to No. 2 South Carolina and an even more devastating 28-point defeat to No. 1 Connecticut earlier in the season. But nothing could have prepared the team for the crushing 80-46 loss to No. 4 UCLA on Saturday night, which marked the largest margin of defeat during Gottlieb’s tenure with the Trojans.

“Today, we got it handed to us,” Gottlieb admitted. “We can be honest and say this is an embarrassing loss.”

That might be an understatement. The Trojans were outshot 53% to 27%, outrebounded 46 to 26, and completely outworked in nearly every aspect of the game. Their offense struggled to find rhythm, while their defense was plagued by constant breakdowns. UCLA consistently exploited USC’s weaknesses, especially in the paint, where they scored 46 points. The performance was a stark contrast to what many had hoped for from a team that entered the season with national title aspirations.

For Gottlieb, the loss was painful but necessary. “It’s a hard lesson that’s painful and not fun,” she said. “But I think we needed to learn it to take the next step.”

“I’ve seen in three games that we’re not as competitive as we wanted to be with the top five teams in the country,” she added. “But I’m not sorry we have them on our schedule. We’re not trying to be a top-25 or top-15 team. We’re trying to be the national champions. We’re trying to be the best program in the country.”

The absence of star player JuJu Watkins has cast serious doubt on whether that goal is achievable this season. In the frontcourt, USC has been particularly vulnerable. This was on full display during the game against UCLA, where center Lauren Betts dominated the opposing bigs. She finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, including four offensive boards, as she overpowered whichever Trojan forward she faced.

Last season, USC had experienced players like Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall to counter Betts and her teammates. This year, however, the Trojans’ forwards — Gerda Raulusaityte, Yakiya Milton, Dayana Mendes, Vivian Iwuchukwu, and Laura Williams — combined for just 1 of 13 field goals in their first meeting with the Bruins.

While USC has managed to survive without strong performances from its frontcourt in the past, UCLA took full advantage of this weakness from the start. The Trojans were only 5 of 24 inside the arc in the first half, forcing them to rely on their long-range shooting, which had been inconsistent throughout the season.

This strategy worked for the first quarter, as USC hit six of its first eight three-point attempts to keep the game close. However, the momentum shifted quickly. UCLA went on a 14-0 run, and USC went scoreless for five minutes. The Trojans never recovered from that point.

“We want to be as good as we can be, but I think you learn harder lessons when you don’t play as well as you can or we’re undisciplined or we aren’t as focused as we need to be,” Gottlieb said. “Maybe there are teams we can win against that way, but the ones that punish you when you do it will make you better, and that’s ultimately the lesson.”