No. 7 USC women bounce back from loss to Iowa by defeating Wisconsin 86-64

By Canadian Press on February 5, 2025.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Kiki Iriafen scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack as No. 7 Southern California bounced back from a rare loss and never trailed in an 86-64 victory over Wisconsin on Wednesday.

USC (20-2, 10-1 Big Ten) was finishing a two-game trip after its 15-game winning streak ended Sunday with a 76-69 loss at Iowa.

Wisconsin (11-12, 2-10) lost for the 10th time in 11 games to drop below .500 for the first time this season.

USC’s JuJu Watkins, who entered the night averaging 24.7 points to rank third in Division I, had a season-low 14 points in 26 minutes. Avery Howell also had 14, Talia von Oelhoffen 11 and Kayleigh Heckel 10.

Serah Williams scored 19 points and Carter McCray and Tess Myers added 12 each for Wisconsin.

Watkins made the game’s first basket but didn’t score again for over 18 minutes. Then she got five points during a 10-4 run over the last 1:39 of the second quarter to give USC a 39-28 halftime lead.

USC stayed in command the rest of the way.

Takeaways

Southern California: After shooting a season-low 35.4% from the floor against Iowa, USC returned to form Wednesday by shooting 50.7%.

Wisconsin: Williams, the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer behind Watkins and UCLA’s Lauren Betts, did everything she could to keep Wisconsin competitive. After shooting 0 for 7 in the first seven minutes, she went 8 of 13 the rest of the way.

Key moment

After falling behind 13-3 in the first seven minutes of the game, Wisconsin trailed just 23-20 when Ronnie Porter missed a potential tying 3-pointer with less than four minutes left in the second quarter. That’s as close as the Badgers would get.

Key stat

USC outscored Wisconsin 33-8 in bench points.

Up next

USC hosts No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday. Wisconsin hosts Illinois on Sunday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Steve Megargee, The Associated Press