“USC” may become the most valuable acronym in college basketball with South Carolina and Southern California doing battle in Los Angeles.
College basketball’s ultimate pointing Spider-Man meme might be tipping off in Los Angeles.
A battle for hoops’ most valuable acronym is set to be staged at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night, as the University of South Carolina is taking its championship roadshow west to face the University of Southern California. Saturday’s women’s non-conference calamity, appropriately dubbed “The Real SC” will be staged at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Sparks, championship franchises of their respective leagues.
South Carolina enters Saturday’s game ranked second in the nation behind only UConn, who denied them a fourth national championship last spring. Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks have returned with a vengeance this time around, rolling through their first three showings by sizable margins. The most recent was a 65-37 shellacking of Clemson on Tuesday night, its 15th consecutive victory over its lasting in-state rival. South Carolina led by only 10 at the start of the fourth period before closing the game on a 20-2 run.
All-American standout Joyce Edwards led the way with 18 points, while Mississippi State transfer Madina Okot had a serendipitous double-double with 12 points and boards each. This will mark the first time that South Carolina steps outside Columbia this season, with further road tests awaiting in Las Vegas, Louisville, and Tampa.
Working through this season without injured franchise face JuJu Watkins, Southern California has likewise gotten off to a strong start, winning the first two games on their docket. The latter was a narrow yet thrilling 69-68 triumph over then-No. 9 North Carolina State in Charlotte, playing in front of another big crowd gathered in an NBA arena (the Charlotte Hornets’ Spectrum Center).
Jazzy Davidson, a touted 19-year-old freshman lived up to her massive early hype by capping off a 21-point showing with a go-ahead double with just over eight seconds remaining in regulation that proved to be the winner. Davidson, a five-star recruit out of Clackamas (OR) High School, also had five blocks, as the Trojans erased an eight-point deficit at the top of the fourth quarter. UCLA transfer Londynn Jones continued a sterling start to her season, coming off the bench to score 19 points, most of that earned off a 4-of-9 output from three-point range.
This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the USCs, who are set to wrap up a two-game series next fall in Greenville back in the Southeast. South Carolina has won each of the first three showings to date, the most recent coming exactly 10 years on Nov. 15, 2015. Alaina Coates and Tiffany Mitchell each led the Gamecocks with 18 points, the former adding 13 rebounds to her output.
What: No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks (3-0) vs. No. 2 Southern California Trojans (2-0)
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
When: Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, Fox
Who’s Favored: South Carolina -11.5
Gamecock to Watch: Joyce Edwards
One look at Edwards’ amateur resume makes it quite clear she was and is destined for incredible things on the Columbia collegiate level. She succeeded Watkins, Sabrina Ionescu, Skylar Diggins, and more as the McDonald’s All-American Game MVP and also won the Gatorade Player of the Year trophy previously hoisted by modern legends like Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers … and, again, Watkins.
But Watkins isn’t the only brand of star power missing from the “SC” civil war, as the Gamecocks are missing Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury. That led to a promotion of sorts for Edwards, who was already burdened with larger responsibilities after MiLaysia Fulwiley transferred in conference, Te-Hina Paopao made the WNBA leap, and Ashlyn Watkins’ continued absence from a January ailment. Reserve guard Maddy McDaniel is also unlikely to face the Trojans, as she was suspended this week for reasons that Staley and Co. chose not to disclose.
On a Carolina team nonetheless packed with young talent, Edwards has responded to the early pressure and then some, making up for the lost offensive production with a team-best 18.3 points over the first three games. With Southern California continuing to flourish defensive under Lindsey Gottlieb—the Trojans have let up only 26 three-point attempts through their first two games and three different players are averaging at least two steals a game—keeping that momentum alive will be crucial to handle business.
Trojan to Watch: Kara Dunn
The Trojans obviously weren’t going to replace Watkins in one fell swoop (not to mention also losing Kiki Iriafen to WNBA stardom), but made some headway in the matter with the addition of Dunn, one of several elite transfer portal finds.
Hailing from Georgia Tech, Dunn helped the Yellow Jackets program get back on track by ending a three-year NCAA Tournament drought last spring. She was particularly lauded for her perimeter defense and kept the scoring up to the tune of matching tallies of 15.5 a game. Dunn has let Davidson bask in the initial hype but has done her part in the early going to the tune of a dozen boards and four steals over the opening couple.
No matter how many sit for South Carolina, the Trojans need to be ready for whatever Staley throws at them. Having an elite two-way talent like Dunn, plucked from Atlanta after NC State was said to have shown interest, could prove to be an x-factor as they seek post-Watkins clarity.
They Said It
“As much I can get mad at what’s happening on the floor, when you really look it at we’re just a really young basketball team, inexperienced and having to play together. We got to go through some things. I thought it was a real challenge for us tonight, they challenged us to be more disciplined. It’s really good stuff that we need to show our team so we can recognize it. Everything is about awareness and recognition for this team.”—Staley on her young team’s early work (h/t Lulu Kesin, The Greenville News)
“It really is playoff vibes. I feel like it’s such an advantage having a tough schedule early. We know that we need to lock in on the scout, we need to get our routine before we play, making sure that we’re locked in from the get-go and I think that we can only go up from here.”—Dunn on Southern California’s early schedule (h/t Haley Sawyer, OC Register)
Prediction
Southern California should be commended for they’ve been able to accomplish in life after Watkins. The tests have come early and often, though they’ve responded well in due time. For all that and more, however, they might lose out on the “USC” privilege.
Edwards is living up to her early hype and there’s plenty to get excited about this group moving forward and bringing in Jones has been a brilliant move in terms of depth. That’s definitely plenty enough and then some to keep things interesting against the mighty Gamecocks, but an outright victory feels like just a little too much to ask for at this point in time.
If there’s one thing a Staley club knows how to do, it’s recover. South Carolina is well within its right to feel raw about what happened against Clemson and has a brilliant opportunity to take its anger out on an elite opponent.
South Carolina 76, Southern California 70
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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