by LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The USC women’s basketball team got fearsome freshman performances from Alissa Pili (Inupiaq) and Endyia Rogers to fuel a 74-63 win over visiting Washington State tonight at Galen Center. The two young guns combined for 54 points, while Pili recorded her sixth double-double in the victory. USC improves to 10-8 overall and to 2-5 in Pac-12 play with the win, while the Cougars go to 9-10, 2-5.
Endyia Rogers had 14 points by halftime thanks to a trio of 3-pointers landed by the freshman. That accounted for half of USC’s 3-point production through the first 20 minutes, whereby the Trojans gripped a 35-28 lead over the Cougars. Fellow freshman Alissa Pili had accumulated nine rebounds by halftime to further the Trojan cause. USC was hitting at 37.1 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range, with WSU at 37.9 percent overall and 41.7 percent from 3-point land.
In the end, it was a 12-0 USC rally in the fourth quarter that turned a three point margin into a hefty USC lead entering the final two minutes. By the final buzzer, USC had shot 42.9 percent from the floor and landed eight 3-pointers. WSU hit at a 38.7 percent clip and landed 11 threes, but USC controlled the boards 44-30 while getting 20-point games from Pili and Rogers. Pili finished up with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Rogers had a career-high 21 points. Senior Aliyah Jeune added 12 points for the Trojans. WSU also had three players hit double digits — Jovana Subasic with 13, Chanelle Molina with 11 and Borislava Hristova 10.
Only 3-pointers fell on both ends in the first three minutes, with the Trojans knocking down a trio of threes and the Cougars nailing a pair for a 9-6 USC lead early on. Desiree Caldwell joined the 3-point parade later, burying a long one to build a 14-9 USC lead at 5:15. The Trojans would mount a 7-0 run to lead it 18-9 on a jumper from Alissa Pili before WSU stopped the rally with a three. Pili pounced again next, and then Aliyah Jeune picked off a Cougar pass and finished at the other end to lift USC ahead 22-12 entering the final minute of the first. WSU would have the last word of the first frame in matching USC’s 3-point tally with a fourth three to end the first with USC up 23-15. Rogers and Jeune clicked off another 3-pointer apiece in the second frame to help keep USC rolling along by halftime, where USC was up 35-28 after WSU again managed a three to close the quarter.
A new Cougar stepped into the 3-point game to carve the USC lead down to one, before Alissa Pili added to her double-double outing to get USC up 39-36 at 7:05. WSU answered with its eighth 3-pointer next, and the game was snarled at 39-39 with 6:50 on the clock. Pili and Jeune struck back for the Trojans, and Rogers landed two free throws to get USC some room back, up 45-39 at 4:28. The Cougars would finish out the third with four more 3-pointers on their scoresheet, having cut it to a one-point game before Kayla Overbeck drilled a jumper to get USC ahead 51-48 entering the fourth. Overbeck kept firing in the fourth, knocking down two more key jumpers. The second — her sixth points of the half — snapped a 4-0 WSU run and sparked a 12-0 rally by the Trojans after Pili produced the next five points, Rogers hit three free throws and Overbeck added another score for good measure and a 70-55 lead with 3:15 to go. That sealed the deal. WSU was able to get a couple late buckets to go, but the Trojans stayed in control down the stretch to close out a final 74-63 win over the Cougars.
NOTABLE:
– FR F Alissa Pili recorded her seventh double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
– Pili also tallied her fourth 20-point game of the season
