Top-Seeded USC Women’s Basketball Upended By UConn In NCAA Elite Eight

Monday, March 31

6:00 p.m.

USC

31-4,16-1Big Ten

UConn

35-3,18-0Big East

UConn

Southern California

USC players huddle up on court during the NCAA Elite Eight in Spokane.

Photo by: Katie Chin

Top-Seeded USC Women’s Basketball Upended By UConn In NCAA Elite Eight

March 31, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Rayah Marshall has a powerful final performance with 23 points and 15 rebounds as USC finishes 2024-25 with a 31-4 record.

SPOKANE, WASH. — The No. 1 seed USC women's basketball team was upended by No. 2 seed UConn in the NCAA Elite Eight for the second straight season, falling 78-64 to the Huskies tonight in Spokane, Wash. The loss leaves the Trojans just short of the Final Four, with a 31-4 overall record that matches the most single-season wins since 1986.

The Huskies were hitting from 3-point range to help build a 39-25 halftime advantage over the Trojans, who were 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. USC was ahead on the boards 19-15, but UConn had also converted 11 USC turnovers into 12 points in the first half to get out ahead.USC was shooting 35.7 percent overall from the floor at the break, cooler that the Huskies' hotter hands at 48.4 percent on 50-percent shooting from 3-point land. USC's defense rendered UConn scoreless for almost five minutes in the third while the Trojans carved the deficit down from 17 to five entering the fourth. But the Huskies had their most productive quarter in those last 10 minutes, finishing out the game shooting 45 percent overall and 45.5 percent from 3-point range with a final of 10 threes made. USC wrapped at 32.8 percent overall with three 3-pointers made while outrebounding the Huskies 42-31. USC committed 15 turnovers to 12 by UConn.

The Trojans were led by season highs from Rayah Marshall, who scored 23 points with 15 rebounds to notch the 40th double-double of her USC career and finish ranked No. 19 all-time in career scoring. Grad students Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen each added 10 points apiece in their final collegiate game. UConn was paced by Paige Bueckers' 31 points, with Sarah Strong adding 22 points with 17 rebounds and Kaitlyn Chan providing 15 points for the Huskies on the night.

At the end of the night, USC's Rayah Marshall and Kennedy Smith were named to the NCAA Spokane Region 4 All-Tournament Team.

UConn gripped a 5-1 lead in the first two minutes of action before USC busted out a 10-0 run that featured big buckets from Rayah Marshall and Kiki Iriafen to go up 11-5. The Huskies broke their five minutes of scoring silence with a second 3-pointer at 3:50, a bucket that sparked a 9-0 answering run by UConn to steal back the lead 14-11 entering the final minute of the first. That margin held until Marshall knocked down the opening shot of the second to get USC one back. UConn mounted another run next, though, getting out to a 21-13 advantage. Marshall again had a response for the Trojans, landing another bucket and then serving up two tosses from the stripe to make it 21-17 at 6:46. Free throws from Kennedy Smith and a score from Marshall had USC within five with 2:40 to go in the half, only to see UConn nail a couple threes in the final minute to build out a 39-25 halftime lead.

Talia von Oelhoffen gave USC a boost in scoring eight straight points for the Trojans, with her three-point play making it a 47-33 margin with 5:40 on the clock. USC continued to push, getting some defensive stops while Smith and Marshall struck around a Heckel free throw to make it 51-40 and prompt a UConn timeout at the 2-minute mark. Iriafen made it a 7-0 USC surge to bring the Trojans within single digits with a successful trip to the stripe at 1:10, but USC wasn't done. Marshall connected from the line next, and then von Oelhoffen got a runner to land in the lane before the buzzer to make it an 11-0 Trojan push to close the gap to 51-46 entering the fourth. The Huskies found a few back-breaking threes early in the fourth to help get back to a double-digit lead, up 62-48 at 6:55. Only free throws would fall for USC, meanwhile, until Marshall hit from the paint to get USC within 10, trailing 66-56 with 2:25 to go. An Avery Howell 3-pointer at 1:05 got USC within nine, down 70-61, but UConn was able to hold strong from the stripe down the stretch in spite of another three landed by Howell as the Huskies pulled off the final 78-64 decision to take the trip to Tampa for the Final Four.

NOTABLE:
- USC was without All-American guard JuJu Watkins for the second straight game after a season-ending injury she sustained in the NCAA Second Round.
- This was USC's eighth all-time appearance as a final-eight team in the NCAA Tournament.
- With 23 points, SR Rayah Marshall finished her USC career ranked No. 19 all-time in scoring with 1,258 career points.
- With 23 points and 15 rebounds, Marshall recorded her fifth double-double of the season and 40th in her USC career. She also set a new season high in points and matched her season high in rebounds.
- Marshall's nine free throws made matched her season high and were one off her career high of 10 free throws made on February 29, 2024 at Arizona.
- USC outrebounded UConn 42-31 and fell to 23-2 this season when winning the battle of the boards.
- The 78 points allowed were the second-most allowed this season by USC (79 vs. Indiana on March 7 in an 84-79 win).
- The 14-point loss was USC's biggest of the season. USC's previous largest deficit in a loss was 13 points vs. Notre Dame on Nov. 23 (61-74).
- USC had 15 turnovers tonight, but only four in the second half. USC was outscored 20-12 on points off turnovers.
- USC shot a season-low 32.8 percent from the field tonight (19-of-58).