PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Everything clicked for the No. 4 USC Trojans as they defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 92-42, on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, NJ.
Juju Watkins guided the Trojans to their 14th win of the season while also achieving a career-high of 14 rebounds. This victory resulted in Rutgers’ worst defeat in program history, surpassing the previous record held by Penn State, which was a 42-point win in 1994.
The emergence of freshman Kennedy Smith has elevated the Trojans since her return from surgery. Smith opened the third quarter by hitting back-to-back three-pointers, diminishing the hope of trimming a 23-point halftime lead.
Watkins and Smith led the offense in the second half, leading by as many as 55 points.
The Trojans kicked off their road trip with an impressive 50-point victory. Watkins scored 23 points, providing four assists and 14 rebounds. She currently leads all players with 14 games of 20 points or more this season.
Smith excelled alongside Watkins, scoring a career-high 19 points while adding three assists and two rebounds. The freshman also recorded six steals, helping the Trojans total of 17 steals.
Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall dominated the paint for USC as they outrebounded Rutgers 52-26. While USC had a total of 23 offensive rebounds, they scored 34 points in the paint. Iriafen finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Marshall had nine points to go with 10 rebounds.
Coach Lindsay Gottlieb emphasized on Sunday that her team must be prepared for the upcoming road trip, starting with Rutgers. She noted their disciplined, defensive-mind is what gives this team an advantage.
“Conference championships are often won on road games. At any point, it’s difficult to win on the road,” Gottlieb said on New Year’s after defeating Nebraska. “We know that we have to bring just sort of our best effort, a connectedness, a togetherness, I heard Rutgers is either sold out or nearly sold out. We know we’re going to have big crowds on the road.”
USC held Rutgers to just 14 points in the first half. Although the offense struggled with 13 turnovers, USC managed to maintain a 23-point lead by halftime.
The Trojans offense hits another level when Watkins has it going for herself as it opens up the floor for others to get going. The offense had 37 fastbreak points while shooting 40.3% from the field.
The road trip will conclude on Wednesday as they face an undefeated No. 8 Maryland.