USC women’s basketball routs Northwestern, extends win streak

EVANSTON, Ill. — The USC women’s basketball team rolled to an 83-65 victory over Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday night, extending its win streak to three games.

USC freshman Jazzy Davidson and redshirt freshman Laura Williams helped the Trojans open the game on an 11-0 run, staking a lead they never relinquished. USC (14-9, 6-6 Big Ten) forced six turnovers in the opening quarter, converting those miscues into 15 points.

The Trojans hope they’ve turned a corner after a slump of six losses in seven games last month dropped them from the top-25 rankings.

“I feel like as a team with these last couple of games, we’ve improved a lot,” sophomore guard Kennedy Smith said. “We’ve stayed consistent and are playing together and growing as a team, and that starts in practice. Just a lot of conversations about being better, obviously through that stretch of losses, but that doesn’t define us. I think the games matter the most in February and March, so we’re here to be better from here on out.”

Four Trojans scored in double figures, with Davidson scoring 21 points and delivering a team-high six assists. Kara Dunn finished with 18 points. Smith recorded the second double-double of her career, adding 17 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

Grace Sullivan led Northwestern (8-15, 2-10) with 24 points.

USC will play at Illinois Sunday at 10 a.m. PST.