The Oregon Beavers are playing spoiler, no question. The Pac-12 women’s tournament started on Wednesday. Beavers stunned USC Trojans in the final game of the first day. This came just days after Oregon State upset Arizona and ended the regular season.
USC scored only 48 points that evening and the field goal percentage was not very good. The Trojans shot 29 percent from the field, 25 percent from 3-point ground, and flipped the ball over 15 times, discouraging an offense whose limits ended up costing a lot.
USC beat Washington and Washington State last week despite hitting less than 30 percent. This game was a sobering reminder that teams that shoot under 30 percent should expect to lose. The Trojans simply need to become a more effective offensive team.
At the beginning of the week Lindsey Gottlieb’s team was 10 seed in latest bracketologybut they may be in danger of making it into the Top Four after a horrendous defeat.
Kadi Sissoko did her best for USC, scoring 16 points even though she had five turnovers. The only other Trojan to hit double figures was Destiny Littleton with 12 points, but Littleton again shot poorly, scoring 3 of 15 from the field. Littleton has shot at 40% or better in just one of their last 10 games. This should change in the NCAA tournament.
Littleton hit 11 3-pointers and just four 2-pointers. All nine of Okako Adiki’s shots were three-pointers. She only made two. That’s a lot of missed shots for a team that needs to be able to get the ball into the basket and commit fouls.
The Trojans went into the break 22-21 and even entered the fourth quarter with a 37-34 lead. However, in the last quarter, the Trojans scored only 11 points, and the Beavers – 22, and this was the difference in the game. Oregon State hit 15 free throws in the last quarter as the Trojans got – and couldn’t adjust – to a suddenly intense whistle.
It’s only Oregon’s 13th win of the season, and the Beavers have won two in a row after nine straight losses. However, the Trojans will have a few long days as they wait to see where they are headed to the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans are clearly on the pitch, but they could put themselves in the top four instead of getting straight into the round of 16. . They are inside. This is a castle.
However, they must stop shooting below 30 percent.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com
