SAN FRANCISCO — The future of women’s basketball was on full display at Chase Center on Sunday night.
And Cal had no answer for her.
Despite a valiant effort, Cal couldn’t stop Freshman sensation Jazzy Davidson as she scored 24 points in a 61-57 win for USC.
“Obviously, very frustrated that we couldn’t come away with the victory,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said. “I think we’re trying so hard. I think these players are really trying, and I want to see them have the success and be able to celebrate and feel good. And you know, this hasn’t been our time yet, and we have to stay locked in and stay committed. I do believe that our time will come this season.”
Sakima Walker finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Cal. Taylor Barnes also had 13 points and Lulu Twidale added 11 points.
Kara Dunn finished with 15 points and six rebounds for USC while Kennedy Smith added 11 points.
“It was a gut check win for us,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We’re still a young team. We’re still growing together, and to be able to kind of take a punch in that third quarter and not be at our best and come back and stick together and find a way says a lot.”
Cal did just enough to trail by just three points at halftime, despite struggling to keep Davidson from attacking the rim.
But Cal quickly took back the momentum coming out of the halftime break. The Bears scored seven unanswered points to start the third quarter to take a three-point lead and force Gottlieb to call a timeout.
After scoring 14 points in the first half, Cal held Davidson to just three points in the third quarter.
Cal’s lead ballooned to as large as nine in the third quarter, but USC ended the quarter on a 10-3 run to come within two points of Cal’s lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But even when she wasn’t scoring, Davidson’s threat to score created open looks for her teammates.
Dunn scored eight of her 15 points in the second half as Cal threw multiple defenders at Davidson.
“I was just trying to focus on other things other than scoring,” Davidson said. “Rebounding, getting my teammates involved when they are denying me or sending doubles – that’s really important.”
USC took a four-point lead with under 90 seconds left on a jumper from Kara Dunn. Two free throws from Gisella Maul cut the Trojans’ lead to just two at the 1:15 mark.
But a costly turnover down two and a missed free throw trailing by Walker was the difference late as USC hit every clutch shot at the line to seal the win.
Despite a hot-scoring start from Davidson, Cal kept up with the high-powered USC offense.
The Bears shot 41% from the field and didn’t allow USC to find a secondary scorer in the first half. Davidson scored 14 points through the first two quarters, but no other USC player scored more than seven.
USC forced 11 Cal turnovers that led to nine points, helping the Trojans build a 31-28 advantage by halftime.
Cal will host Cal Poly next Sunday for its final non-conference game of the season.
Smith believes there’s room for her team grow in the next few weeks.
“I think where this team could be at the end of January, end of February is a lot higher when we can speak of their ceiling,” Smith said. “We’ve got to do the work to get there.”
