USC Has No Shot

The USC women’s basketball team had hoped at this point in the schedule it would be competitive enough for a test against defending national champion Connecticut.

Sunday, the Trojans learned they weren’t close, getting rolled by the third-ranked Huskies, 68-44, before 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center.

The Huskies (7-0) had no difficulty claiming their 46th consecutive victory, which tied Tennessee for the second-longest streak in women’s college basketball history. (The record-holder is Louisiana Tech, which won 54 consecutive games from 1980-82.)

USC’s shooting woes, which have dogged the team this season, sank to record levels against Connecticut. The Trojans (4-3) made 12 of 66 shots, tying the team record for fewest field goals, set against Oregon State on Jan. 29, 2000. The Trojans’ field-goal percentage (18.2%) eclipsed the former mark of 24%, logged against Washington in 1990.

Take away the totals of Ebony Hoffman (who made six of 17 shots and had 22 points and 14 rebounds) and Aisha Hollans (four of 16, 11 points), and the rest of the Trojan roster was a combined two for 33.

“I can’t believe we shot 18% and only lost by [24],” USC Coach Chris Gobrecht said. “Just imagine how good we’d be defensively if we could knock some shots down.”

It was the third time this season the Trojans have lost to a top-10 team by double digits. They had reason to feel better about their efforts in the losses to Kansas State and Notre Dame. There wasn’t much upside to Sunday’s defeat.

“I thought [Connecticut] was obviously more aggressive than we were, and a lot more physical,” Gobrecht said. “The only real physical player we have is Ebony; for the most part she did her job.

“If we’re going to play at this level, we really have to step up our physical toughness. We’ve been fine hanging with the teams [ranked] 15 and down. But when we play the top 10 we need to step up our toughness, mentally and physically.”

Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t gushing about his team, either. Even though Connecticut led by as many as 26 and got 24 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks from star Diana Taurasi and 11 points from freshman Willnett Crockett, Auriemma found plenty of fault with his team, starting with 30 turnovers.

“That was the most god-awful exhibition of basketball I have ever witnessed,” Auriemma said. “I figured their defense was probably responsible for about 10 of our turnovers. You could make a case that there was a foul on every possession ... people were holding, grabbing, pushing and shoving and it was tough to get anything done out there.

“But we turned it over 30 times, who does that? [Many] were mental mistakes, the wrong pass at the wrong time. There’s no explanation for it.”

It would be ill-advised to expect this Connecticut squad, with no seniors, to approach the level of last season’s 39-0 team.

Yet some things remain the same. The young Huskies can still chew up and spit out teams as they did against USC.

The game momentarily was close. A three-foot hook shot by Kim Gipson at the 11:43 mark drew the Trojans within 18-12. But USC, which never led, would make only two more field goals in the half as Connecticut carved up the Trojan defense with pinpoint passing, offensive rebounds, accurate shooting (making 13 of 25), and Taurasi’s ability to drive past any defender for either layups or fouls.

By halftime the Huskies were breezing, 37-19. The Trojans were rushing shots, missing shots (seven of 31) and not taking full advantage of Connecticut miscues.

“None of us were really into the game, myself included,” Hoffman said. “We had a size advantage, but they wanted it more. We basically didn’t have any heart.

“We believed we could come in and have a game, but they are at a level a lot higher than us.”

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On Tech Trail

*--* Longest winning streaks in women’s basketball since 1980, including postseason tournament: Wins Team Year 54 Louisiana Tech 1980-82 46 Connecticut *2001-02 46 Tennessee 1996-98 40 Texas 1985-87 36 Purdue 1998-00 35 Connecticut 1994-96 33 Connecticut 1996-97 32 North Carolina 1993-95 32 Louisiana Tech 1989-90 30 Miami (Fla.) 1991-92 * -- active streak

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