USC women’s basketball learned a lesson, turning one tough loss into a huge win

USC was caught without JuJu Watkins on January 21. The Trojans applied that game’s lessons on February 29.

USC women’s basketball ended the month of February with the kind of galvanizing moment which should increase this team’s belief heading into March Madness. Not having JuJu Watkins in crunch-time minutes due to a foul-out is something which had happened to USC before Thursday’s game at Arizona.

It is important to note that USC was caught shorthanded in a high-stress situation nearly 40 days before Thursday’s double-overtime victory in Tucson. A previous game in January planted the seeds which grew in the desert on the final night of February. The Trojans can convincingly tell themselves they are much more prepared for March.

Let’s go through this progression in the Women of Troy, who just grew up in a big way against Arizona: