The Oregon State Beavers women’s basketball team had been playing the elite teams in the Pac-12 on even terms this season. OSU nearly beat Stanford, nearly beat Utah, nearly beat UCLA, but couldn’t finish off those quality teams.
USC knew it would be in for a fight on Sunday afternoon in the Galen Center. Sure, Oregon State was several games below .500 in the Pac-12, but OSU was a far tougher team than its record indicated. We told you about the Beavers over the weekend, leading up to this game.
Could USC make sure that Oregon State didn’t make a close-game breakthrough against the Trojans?
It was really close, but the Trojans made the one extra play they didn’t make in their previous overtime game.
You remember the double-overtime thriller USC lost to Arizona one week ago. The Trojans had their chances but couldn’t make that one last shot or get that one final stop.
USC and Oregon State went to overtime on Super Sunday. The Trojans got pulled into OT for a second straight Sunday. This time, they pulled through.
Oregon State led by four with under three minutes left in regulation, wiping out what had been a six-point USC lead with 7:45 remaining. The Trojans were on the verge of suffering another painful loss in a close game. Remember, they lost twice to UCLA by a combined four points. Then they lost the 2-OT game against Arizona. It was crunch time for a team which had shot very poorly and had to make winning plays down the stretch.
Okako Adika stepped up. Her 4-point play tied the game. USC allowed just two points in the final 3:30 of regulation and got to overtime. In the OT period, the Trojans — who memorably shut out Washington in OT on Jan. 22 in Seattle — allowed just one point to Oregon State. USC scored only five points in the OT period, but that was four more than the Beavers.
USC 60, OSU 56.
It is natural and normal for fans to think of clutch athletes as the players who throw the winning touchdown pass or who hit the big shot in the final seconds, and of course, that’s true. However, clutch athletes can also be clutch defensive players.
They usually get the big defensive stop. They usually get the key rebound. They usually rotate and are in the right spot to deny the opponent a good shot or a driving lane to the basket.
That’s the 2023 USC women’s basketball team. When games are close, this team gets stops. It doesn’t regularly score, but it does regularly prevent the other team from scoring.
There is more than one way to win. USC doesn’t make the game easy for itself; it makes the game harder for its opponent.
Now the Trojans are one big step closer to the NCAA Tournament. We’ll have a lot more on this win on Monday.
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