by LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The USC women’s basketball team took better care of the ball in the second half but could get no closer than eight points away from Arizona State in taking a 63-54 loss to the Sun Devils today at Galen Center. The Trojans carved down a 20-point deficit in the fourth thanks to a game-high 23 points from Alissa Pili (Inupiat). The loss puts USC at 8-6 overall and 0-3 in Pac-12 play, while ASU goes to 11-4, 1-2.
Turnovers plagued the Trojans in the first half, and ASU capitalized. The Sun Devils pieced together an 18-0 run fueled largely by those USC giveaways, and the Trojans were behind 36-24 by halftime due in large part to 14 turnovers. USC was shooting 45.5 percent from the floor in the first half to outpace ASU’s 38.9 percent, but the Sun Devils had 10 players on the scoresheet to just four Trojans to keep USC off-balance and hold ASU in the lead at the half. USC got within 10 as Alissa Pili found her scoring touch in the third, although that gap would grow to 20 points early in the fourth. Pili would power the Trojans to within eight entering the final minute, but USC couldn’t carve it down any further in the final 63-54 loss.
USC wrapped the game shooting 45.5 percent overall, with ASU finishing up at 38.9 percent while scoring 27 points off of USC’s season-high 21 turnovers. ASU also landed four 3-pointers to just a single three from the Trojans. USC received a game-high 23 points from Alissa Pili — all in the second half — along with 14 points from fellow freshman Endyia Rogers. Six Trojans scored in the game while all 11 Sun Devils got on the scoresheet, led by Jayde Van Hyfte’s 12 points.
Endyia Rogers manufactured a USC rally all her own to get the Trojans into the lead, up 7-4 at 6:40 after a bucket and a 3-pointer from the freshman. USC would get up 11-6 with scores from Desiree Caldwell and Kyra White, but then ASU’s pressure fueled Trojan turnovers that saw the Sun Devils strike off on an 11-0 surge to close out the first quarter up 17-11. The margin widened to 24-11 as USC committed another early turnover and then saw ASU score the first seven points of the second quarter. Kayla Overbeck would snap ASU’s rally at 18-0 with a three-point play at 8:24 to make it 24-14. A 6-0 run by the Sun Devils deepened the deficit to 34-21 in the final minute of the half, and while Rogers worked her way into double digits for the Trojans, USC was still behind 36-24 by halftime.
Alissa Pili got her scoring touch going in the third, and Angel Jackson also joined the scoresheet to get USC some balance. Pili’s back-to-back buckets snapped a 7-0 run by ASU and made it 51-36 entering the final minute of the frame. ASU scored next, and Overbeck added a free throw to make it 53-37 entering the fourth quarter. Pili kept chugging and rattled off six straight points to haul the Trojans to 58-46 with 4:30 to go. Another perfect Pili trip to the line got USC back within 10, down 60-50 with 2:44 remaining. Pili would pull USC within eight twice, but ASU had an answer each time as the Trojans wound up with a 63-54 loss to the Sun Devils.
NOTABLE:
– Alissa Pili’s game-high 23 points all came in the second half.
