LOS ANGELES -- It’s been a perfect two days in terms of season openers for both men’s and women’s basketball as the Women of Troy hosted the New Mexico Aggies to begin their 2025-26 season and came out of the Galen Center victorious by a landslide 87-48 result.
USC maintained a consistent pace on both ends of the floor in the first quarter until it started to slow down offensively, shooting the lowest field goal percentage of the game at 35%. As the game progressed, the Trojans began to pick up the pace at a mighty level and by the end of regulation, had boosted their overall field goal percentage to 40%, while bolstering an impressive 64% shooting in the fourth quarter alone to close out the game.
Five-star freshman Jazzy Davidson was playing in her first collegiate game and, despite the slow start to her night, she showed out in front of the home crowd at the Galen Center, notching 14 points on 4-16 shooting and four assists.
"I'm just super grateful to be here, for the opportunity, and it's surreal playing my first college game," Davidson said in remarks on how she slowed the game down when playing in her first college game. "Just super excited, a little nervous at first, but I got over the nerves."
Senior guard Londynn Jones led the charge on the scoring front for the Trojans, notching 16 points on 6-11 shooting in 18 minutes coming off the bench. Despite her blanking past beyond the arc where her sweet spot resides, she resorted to other measures and found creative ways to score from the paint.
"Something that I work on a lot is just trying to make the right read and take what the defense is giving me," Jones said.
The Trojans notably played this game in zone defense, which is not as common under Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb, but as a result, creates more pressure for the opposing team to score, which Gottlieb mentioned in the postgame presser.
"I just think it's one of the things we can do," Gottlieb said. "It utilizes our length, and I think we can get different looks from people and give a ton of pressure to those on the ball."
A strong start for the Women of Troy as they open up their 2025-26 season with a monstrous victory, but they won't stay in Southern California for too long as they travel to face the No.9 ranked NC State on Sunday evening.