Women of Troy Get Their Shot at the Top

USC has proven a point. By beating Louisville on Saturday, the Trojans showed they weren’t happy simply to be back in the NCAA tournament.

Now USC will find out how good it is.

Today, the No. 8-seeded Trojans (20-10) step up against No. 1-seeded Michigan State (29-3) for the right to play in next week’s Kansas City Regional. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.

The Spartans’ resume is impressive. Michigan State ended the regular season ranked sixth nationally and was 10-1 against ranked opponents, including then-No. 2 Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament final. It has averaged 71.4 points a game and limited opponents to 60 points or fewer 21 times.

Michigan State also has the incentive of trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.

“We’re gonna need all the help we can get,” USC Coach Mark Trakh said. “We’ve got to solve their matchup zone. They are so well disciplined in their zone defense and do a lot of things out of it. We’re gonna have to knock down shots.

“But I’m telling the kids to have fun. We’re gonna go out, play our hardest and see what happens. We feel no pressure right now. This is all new, fun and exciting.”

On Saturday, the challenge from Louisville was in stopping the Cardinals’ inside game.

Today, even though Michigan State has an excellent forward-center combination in Liz Shimek (14.9 points) and Kelli Roehrig (13.6), the Trojans will have to think outside the post. The Spartans’ backcourt of Kristin Haynie and Lindsay Bowen was a major reason Michigan State won the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles.

Haynie, a senior who averages 10.6 points and 5.1 assists, was the only player listed among her conference leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and field-goal percentage. Bowen, a junior averaging 13.6 points, has made 43% of her three-point shots this season (68 of 158).

“We’re aware their guards do it all -- scoring, rebounding, defense,” Trojan guard Eshaya Murphy said. “That’s something our coaches are getting us well prepared for.”

The boards are another area of concern for USC. Michigan State outrebounded opponents by eight a game.

And the rebounding differential in Saturday’s blowout win over 16th-seeded Alcorn State -- 62-29 -- was ridiculous by any standard.

“We know one of our strengths is offensive rebounding,” USC guard Meghan Gnekow said. “And they killed Alcorn State on the defensive boards. But we have people like Shay [Murphy], me, Rachel Woodward and Kim Gipson who can go get the ball. I think we’re a really good rebounding team as well.”

Michigan State Coach Joanne P. McCallie expects the Trojans to present some problems.

“They play a lot of different players, and you have to respect each player,” McCallie said. “They’ve got a lot of balance. And at this point it’s pretty characteristic of all the teams in the tournament that everybody’s good.”