Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
PORTLAND, Ore. — JuJu Watkins scored 30 points, including nine of Southern California’s final 10 points, as the Trojans held off Baylor 74-70 Saturday in the Portland Regional semifinals.
Rayah Marshall contributed 11 points and 16 rebounds and McKenzie Forbes scored 14 points for No. 1 seed USC (29-5), which advances to Monday’s Elite Eight.
Sarah Andrews scored 17 points, Jada Walker added 15 and Dariana Littlepage-Buggs chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds for No. 5 seed Baylor (26-8).
Watkins scored nine straight points — the last seven from the foul line — over the final 3:13. The Trojans’ prize freshman had a poor shooting game, finishing 8-for-28 from the field. But she buried 12 of 13 free-throw attempts for the winners.
Neither team shot well. USC fired at 39.4 percent from the field (26-for-66) while Baylor converted at a 38.6 clip (27-for-70).
Baylor closed a six-point halftime deficit to 41-39 early in the third quarter, but Watkins drilled back-to-back 3s to make it 47-41. The Bears seized the lead at 50-49 on an Andrews trey with 2:55 left in the third. Baylor took a 57-53 edge into the final period.
To that point, Watkins had 21 points but on 7-for-24 shooting.
USC scored the first six points of the fourth quarter and regained the lead at 59-57 on a 3-pointer by Forbes. The teams battled back and forth, with Watkins converting a three-point play to push the Trojans in front 67-64 with 3:13 remaining. Watkins hit a pair at the line to make it 69-64 with 1:49 to play.
Andrews drilled a 3 to cut the margin to 69-67 with 1:38 to go. Neither team scored again until Watkins sank two foul shots to up the Trojans’ lead to 71-67 with 26.4 seconds on the clock.
Then it was Andrews, connecting again from beyond the arc to cut the difference to 71-70 with 22.8 seconds left. The Bears fouled Watkins, who drained two free throws to make it 73-70 with 19.5 ticks left. Andrews missed a long 3-point attempt and Marshall was fouled on the rebound. She split a pair at the line to make it 74-70 with 8.2 ticks left to seal the verdict.
Watkins scored 15 points as USC took a 37-31 lead into halftime. The Trojans’ meal ticket was 5-for-16 from the field.
Baylor’s problem in the first half was shooting. The Bears were 11-for-34 from the field (32.4 percent), including 3-for-12 from beyond the arc. No Baylor player had more than six points at the break.
–Kerry Eggers, Field Level Media