The opening women’s college basketball games looked great on paper. In practice, it reminds us that teams don’t pick up where they left off and, in fact, start over each year.
The juggernaut No. 3 USC Trojans looked sloppy, disorganized and lost for most of the game but snuck out of their contest against No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels with a 68-66 victory thanks to a pair of late-game Kiki Iriafen free throws. The No. 5 UCLA Bruins had a much smoother time, defeating No. 17 Louisville Cardinals 66-59. Lauren Betts was electric, registering her first double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Here’s how each game went and how the Southern California teams got wins in France.
How the Trojans won
This was ugly basketball, without question. The Trojans shot 40 percent from the field, and the Rebels converted just 29 percent of their shots. Turnovers were frequent and often for both sides; Ole Miss had 16, but USC overwhelmed that mark with a whopping 26.
Still, an ugly win is a victory, and USC got the job done.
JuJu Watkins got going during the second quarter and ended with 27 points on 8-for-19 shooting. She also registered 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and five blocks. The USC transfers, Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen, will need some time to…
