Fourth quarter comeback can’t overcome a tough third quarter for the Spartans
After taking UCLA to the wire before falling just short on Sunday, Michigan State was looking for a West Coast split against USC and Big Ten Player of the Year candidate JuJu Watkins.
The Spartans would have an early 6-4 lead on a Jocelyn Tate drive, a layup from Grace VanSlooten, and a jumper from Julia Ayrault. Watkins, however, would lead USC to a 12-8 advantage at the first media timeout with seven points, scoring on a drive, a three pointer, and a putback after wrestling the ball away from MSU after a missed free throw.
USC would extend the lead to 17-8 after five more free throws. The Trojans would extend that to 21-11 on layups from Watkins and Rayah Marshall. Ayrault hit a badly needed three for MSU to cut it to 21-14 but Watkins responded with a three pointer of her own to get USC right back to a double digit lead.
Ayrault hit a nice step back on the baseline to trim the deficit to 24-16 at the end of the first quarter. The Spartans really struggled to find openings in the USC defense while the Trojans did some damage inside with a 10-4 advantage in points in the paint.
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MSU started to clamp down a little better on defense in the second quarter. After over two minutes of scoreless basketball to open the period, Ayrault finally broke the drought for both teams to get MSU within six at 24-18 but the Trojans would build the lead back up from there.
A nice inside out sequence led to an Avery Howell three pointer on a kick out from Kiki Iriafen to make it 29-20. Iriafen would continue to punish the Spartans in the paint from here, drawing two fouls on Ayrault in the process. Three Iriafen free throws and a post move on Ayrault, who couldn’t afford to pick up her third foul, extended the USC lead to 34-22.
The Spartans would continue to struggle with the half court offense but Grace VanSlooten would work hard for a couple of offensive rebounds, drawing two fouls and hitting all four free throws.
After a nice reverse layup from VanSlooten, the half ended with USC ahead 41-31 but the Spartans had a few good chances to make it closer. Ines Sotello got by her defender on the drive but couldn’t finish. Sotello and Ayrault were also long on open corner threes that would have helped the Spartans.
In addition to 17 points from Watkins and 11 from Iriafen, twelve turnovers against SC’s tough D really hurt the Spartans and foul trouble was starting to build for both teams. Tate, VanSlooten, Simmons, Ayrault, and Sotello all had two for the Spartans while Marshall, Iriafen, Smith, Talia von Oelhoffen each had a pair for the Trojans.
Despite points being tough to come by, the Spartans were lingering within striking distance at the half. Unfortunately that would change in the third quarter. After having an 18-12 advantage in free throw attempts at the half, the Trojans would end the third period with 23 free throw makes on 30 attempts compared to the Spartans 12-14. USC was also 5-13 from beyond the arc at this point while the Spartans were just 1 for 9.
Watkins got the SC lead to 68-47 before a strong Theryn Hallock drive to end the quarter that was very much in the Trojans’ favor as they outscored the Spartans 27-18.
Michigan State wasn’t giving up though. VanSlooten hit a jumper to get things started in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 68-51. Hallock then got a steal and finished her coast to coast drive with a nice crossover move in the lane and it was 68-53. After struggling for much of the game to this point, Hallock was starting to get going. Her three point play made it 70-56 USC and then VanSlooten cut it to 70-58 with a tough take to the rim.
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The Spartans continued to narrow the lead down, getting within 72-65 behind a Simmons steal leading to a Hallock layup, a free throw from Ayrault, and another steal and finish from Simmons.
Watkins temporarily ended the Spartans’ momentum with a drive that made it 74-65 USC but MSU responded again. Another Spartans’ steal led to VanSlooten getting fouled in the lane. She hit one free throw but Ayrault grabbed the board. MSU called timeout before USC could tie Ayrault up and then a nice up and under move from VanSlooten got the Spartans within six, 74-68.
That was as close as MSU would get though. VanSlooten had a chance to get the Spartans within four but couldn’t get a tough one to go over her defender. After buckets from Smith and Watkins, the Trojans were back up ten at 78-68 and forced a timeout from MSU.
After the timeout, Sotello battled for an offensive board, drew a foul, and hit one free throw. MSU then forced a shot clock violation and Ayrault converted after the turnover to make it 78-71 with just under two minutes to go but this was the last real threat from the Spartans. A Watkins layup made it 80-71 and USC went on to close it out 83-75.
VanSlooten was outstanding for the Spartans, leading all scorers with 29 points. She hit 9-18 from the field, including a lot of very tough shots, and 11-12 from the line. Ayrault scored 16 and Hallock, after a rough start, chipped in 12. Watkins and Iriafen had 28 and 24, respectively, for the Trojans.
The Spartans forced 14 steals, won the turnover battle 23-21, and finished with a 44-36 advantage in points in the paint but went just 1-13 from three and were outrebounded by the Trojans 45-37.
After looking like UCLA’s equal for much of the game, especially in the second half, on Sunday, it seemed like the Trojans were often one step ahead tonight, even with the fourth quarter rally from MSU where they outscored the Trojans 26-15.
Robyn Fralick was asked after the game why the Spartans always seem to have strong fourth quarters and she said it’s really a cumulative effect of how they play. The Spartans’ full court press contributed to the comeback as MSU mostly waited until the fourth quarter to deploy the pressure. Fralick said with Watkins’ ability in space, they didn’t feel great about pressing for the whole game but perhaps she’d have second thoughts about that decision.
USC Coach Lindsay Gottlieb gave credit to the Spartans for never going away, calling MSU “really tough” and a “second weekend type tournament team”. Gottlieb also said Watkins and Iriafen are the best duo in the country and it’s hard to argue that point after tonight.
Despite the two losses, Fralick said MSU learned a lot on this trip. Hopefully that knowledge can propel them to a strong finish. The Spartans are now tied with Michigan for sixth place in the Big Ten at 9-6, one game behind Maryland, with just three regular season games left to play, beginning Sunday when MSU returns home to face Indiana.