USC Pac-12 championship hopes receive fatal blow, but Trojans still 2nd in the conference

If you had been told before the season USC would finish 2nd in the Pac-12, you probably would have been elated.

The USC Trojans’ Pac-12 women’s basketball championship hopes lasted about 42 hours. From the end of the Colorado game late Friday night to the end of Sunday afternoon’s loss to Utah, USC harbored realistic aspirations of being able to win a share of the last Pac-12 regular season title in women’s hoops. That dream died with the 74-68 defeat dealt by the Utes in a hard-fought game in the Galen Center.

Is the immediate result disappointing? No question. Yet, the larger picture is that USC made a great run at a conference championship which seemed out of the question for a good portion of the season. Let’s gain some perspective on the current balance of power in the Pac-12, but also on the journey USC took to get to this point: