USC Women's Basketball Routs Rutgers 71-39

Sunday, February 1

Los Angeles, Calif.

2:00 p.m.

USC

13-9,5-6Big Ten

Rutgers

9-13,1-10Big Ten

Rutgers

Southern California

Malia Samuels dribbles on the basketball court

Photo by: USC Athletics

USC Women's Basketball Routs Rutgers 71-39

February 01, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Trojans pick up second straight conference conference victory.

LOS ANGELES — Behind a dominant effort on both ends of the floor, USC women's basketball rolled past Rutgers, 71-39, on Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center. The Women of Troy's commanding rebounding performance helped secure the program's second consecutive win over the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers won the opening tip, but USC struck first with a layup from freshman Jazzy Davidson. After early back-and-forth action, senior Londynn Jones knocked down a three-pointer off a Davidson assist to give the Trojans a 5-4 edge. Senior Kara Dunn later finished a jumper from Jones to reclaim the lead at 12-11, though Rutgers carried a slim 15-12 advantage into the end of the first quarter.

USC flipped the momentum in the second period. Junior Malia Samuels opened the quarter with a three-pointer, assisted by sophomore Kennedy Smith, to tie the game at 15-15. Davidson followed with a three-point play to push USC ahead, and the Trojans took full control with a scoring run that included shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the field during the stretch. USC went into halftime leading 29-23, fueled by a decisive edge on the glass and in hustle categories. Redshirt freshman Laura Williams led all players with 10 first-half rebounds (all coming in the second quarter) to surpass her previous career high.

The Trojans put the game away coming out of the break. Dunn opened the third quarter with a three-pointer and USC followed with a 16-2 run from 6:43 to 1:08, extending the lead to 52-31. Smith and Dunn each scored seven points in the quarter, going a combined 6-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

USC maintained its intensity in the final period, opening the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to stretch the margin to 64-33. The Trojans closed the game with a 7-0 run over the final three minutes to seal the 32-point victory.

Dunn led USC with a game-high 18 points, adding six rebounds and two assists, and extended her streak of double-figure scoring performances to 12 straight games. Davidson finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, marking her 19th consecutive game scoring in double figures.

USC finished with a season-best 57 rebounds and held Rutgers to single-digit scoring in three of four quarters.

Next up, the Trojans hit the road for a pair of Big Ten matchups, facing Northwestern on Thursday, Feb. 5^th (6 p.m. PT), followed by Illinois on Sunday, Feb. 8 (10 a.m. PT).

MAIN TAKEAWAYS:

With the win, the Trojans improve to 4-5 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, extending their win streak to two
USC's 57 rebounds were a season best, their previous being 50 vs. No. 21 Washington on Dec. 7
With a game-high 18 points, SR Kara Dunn has now scored in double figures for 12 consecutive games. She also had six rebounds and two assists
FR Jazzy Davidson recorder her 19th consecutive game scoring in double figures with 16 points. The guard also contributed nine rebounds, five assists and three steals with a game-high +30 rating
R-FR Laura Williams tallied a career-high 11 rebounds, 10 of which were all recorded in a single quarter
SO Kennedy Smith scored 11 points with two made three pointers, her most made three pointers since Nov. 18 vs. Portland (3)
This is Rutgers' second lowest scoring game this season coming after their loss against Iowa on Dec. 6 (79-36)
Today marked USC's second time this season holding an opponent to single digit scoring in three of four quarters since Dec. 2 vs. Saint Mary's (Q2: 4, Q3: 8, Q4: 7)

QUOTES:

Lindsay Gottlieb | Head Coach

Inititial reaction from game today:

"Great weekend for us. Really excited to build from here. This is a fun group; they stay locked in and are super coachable …I love the mentality. I thought we didn't have our best game offensively tonight, but we played with toughness."

On team wearing Black History Month warm up shirt:
"We understand the platform that we have and there are a lot of eyes on us. I saw recently that we're the third most-watched team in the country. February is Black History Month, and Black history is American history. We have a really diverse team, but we have a lot of strong, powerful, and amazing young African American women who just do a lot of great things, both on and off the court. Their ability to wear a shirt to shine a light on the incredible people in this country's history that have made us who we are is a great thing."

Kennedy Smith | So | G

On message to the team while she was out:
"I would say, consistency and growth. That's been a topic of discussion, just staying together and wanting to grow in every aspect of the game. Whether that's communication or wanting to be better. Just trying to stay motivated in that time period that I was out."

Malia Samuels | Jr | G

On return after missing Iowa game:
"I'm just happy to be back playing with my team. They definitely brought the energy last game, and I tried to bring as much energy as I could on the bench, but it was great to be playing with them again. I'm just happy to be back."