COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ninth-seeded USC brought all the energy and intensity you would want from a young team in March and it paid off with a gutsy 71-67 overtime win against No. 8 Clemson in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.
Jazzy Davidson‘s heroics were the difference as she hit back-to-back three pointers in overtime to give USC the lead. Kara Dunn iced the game with two clutch free throws.
Davidson finished with 31 points, six rebounds and five assists. Dunn followed with 22 points and four rebounds.
USC will face No. 1 South Carolina in the second round on Monday.
Taylor Johnson-Matthews led the way for Clemson with 16 points, followed by Morgan Lee with 12 points, Raven Thompson with 11 points and Demeara Hinds with 10 points.
The game featured arguably the most chaotic finish of the tournament thus far. With just under a minute left, Davidson hit the floor to get a steal and coach Lindsay Gottlieb called a timeout as a fast break was developing. It wouldn’t doom the Trojans, though. Dunn came out of the timeout, attacked the basket, made a layup and earned a foul. Her three-point play put USC up 61-59 with 53 seconds left. Clemson drew a foul and hit two free throws to tie the game, then forced a USC travel.
With 35 seconds left and the score tied at 61, Clemson struggled to get a shot off as Davidson forced a jump ball and then Gerda Raulusaityte forced a tie-up of her own. The Trojans got the ball back with less than 10 seconds, but then Clemson forced a jump ball.
USC guard Jazzy Davidson, right, battles Clemson guard Taylor Johnson-Matthews for a loose ball during the first half Saturday.
(Nell Redmond / Associated Press)
With four seconds left, Clemson’s Mia Moore rushed down the court, hit a wild shot and seemingly drew a foul at the buzzer. The refs reviewed the play and waved off the basket and the foul, saying they took place after time expired, triggering overtime.
In overtime, Clemson tried to pull away with Moore hitting a free throw before Rachael Rose found an open lane to the basket and put the Tigers up 64-61.
Davidson then answered with a personal 6-0 run and Clemson couldn’t come back despite a late three from Morgan Lee to make it a one-possession game.
Davidson, who played for the first time since sustaining a shoulder injury in the Big Ten tournament, struggled early. She missed her first four shots and Clemson led most of the game thanks to hot shooting. A couple of threes late in the second quarter gave Clemson a 28-26 halftime lead.
The Trojans ramped up their defensive intensity in the second half and it created offensive opportunities that eventually set up an overtime victory.
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