"The Trojans had just fallen short against Michigan State 74-68, the night before. "We know we're right there," the coach continued. "But right there isn't good enough. We're not satisfied with that. But for this team, if we continue to figure the things out that are keeping us from getting over the hump, you know, then we think that we can do some damage.""
"It certainly seemed that way at the start of January, when the Trojans were 10-3 and appeared to have found some sort of stride without injured superstar JuJu Watkins. But the void she'd left in USC's lineup became particularly noticeable in the new year, as a blowout loss to UCLA, the largest defeat of Gottlieb's tenure, left USC reeling. Sophomore wing Kennedy Smith went down with an injury after that, and USC blew a fourth-quarter lead to Oregon a few nights later."
"Yet none of those losses, Gottlieb points out, has been all that detrimental to the Trojans' tournament resume. Not yet, at least. USC still sits at No. 25 in the NET rankings, thanks to its grueling nonconference schedule to start the season. The Trojans are 9-1 in games against Quad 2, 3 and 4 opponents, although they are 2-7 against top-tier opponents currently ranked as Quad 1."
USC is 11-8 after losing five of its last six games, but the coaching staff remains confident about NCAA tournament prospects. The team began January 10-3 but lost momentum following the absence of injured star JuJu Watkins and a later injury to sophomore Kennedy Smith. Blowout loss to UCLA and late-game collapses have hurt consistency, yet USC retains a No. 25 NET ranking due to a difficult nonconference schedule. The Trojans are 9-1 versus Quad 2-4 opponents but only 2-7 versus Quad 1 teams, and four of the final 10 games are against top-12 opponents, raising the urgency to improve.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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