Despite playing hard, USC fall to No.12 Maryland 62-55

USC Trojans #25 Kara Dunn (G) is being guarded by the Maryland Terrapins #6 Saylor Poffenbarger (G) at the Galen Center. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 January 15, 2026.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The USC Trojans (10-7, 2-4 BigTen) played hard to the bitter end, but poor shooting again,19 of 67 shots, 28.4 percent, cost them another game after losing to the No.12  Maryland Terrapins (17-2,5-2 BigTen) at the Galen Center 62-65 in a hard-fought game.

Kara Dunn led the Trojans in scoring with 21 points (7-16), Jazzy Davidson (5-23) with 12 points, and Londynn Jones (1-8) with 7 points.

USC committed just 9 turnovers compared to Maryland’s 19 turnovers, and in most games, you would win, but the Terrapins made shots and free throws down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and USC didn’t.

“I thought we played our asses off,” Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. ”That doesn’t guarantee an outcome, but I’ll take our effort every day. This one hurts. We laid it on the line, but we didn’t do enough to win the game.”

USC Trojans #9 Jazzy Davidson (G) is going up for a jump shot in the first quarter on the right sideline of the Galen Center. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 January 15, 2026.

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USC would trail 7-4 after a jump shot by Jazzy Davidson. The Trojans led 14-9 with a three-pointer by Kara Dunn.

Maryland would cut into USC lead down to three points, 17-14, after Saylor Poffenbarger knocked down a three-pointer. The Trojans led at the end of the quarter 20-16 with Davidson scoring 12 points.

Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu would drive down the right side of the baseline to the basket for a layup that had Maryland down 24-20 with 5:05 left before halftime.

Maryland Terrapins #3 Addi Mack (G) going up for a jump while USC Trojans #10 Malia Samuels (G) is trying to distract her on her shot attempt. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 January 15, 2026.

Maryland trailed at halftime, 28-27, after Addi Mack’s jump shot. Davidson had 12 points to lead USC in scoring in the first half, and for Maryland, Saylor Poffenbarger had 6 points.

The Terrapins lead 31-30 in the third quarter with two free throws by Garzon. USC would regain the lead 40-38 with two free throws by Londynn Jones.

The Terrapins would go up 44-40 after a made basket and one by Mack. Dunn would make two free throws to make the score 44-42 in favor of Maryland.

USC trailed 46-42 at the end of the third quarter, after Kyndal Walker  from Maryland made two free throws after being fouled on her shot attempt.

Dunn had the Trojans trailing 47-44 with a layup from the left side of the basket. USC, with back-to-back layups by Dunn and Vivian Iwuchukwu, now trailed by one point, 49-48, forcing Maryland to call a timeout with 6:01 left in the game.

USC Trojans #25 Kara Dunn (G) three-point shot from the right side of basket in front of the Maryland Terrapins’ bench. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 January 15, 2026.

Dunn was carrying the Trojans on her back, and knocked down another three-pointer to give USC a 51-49 lead. Dunn would tie the game 54-54 after pulling up for a jump shot.

Maryland would lead 57-54 and never look back with a three-pointer by Garzon, and closed out the game with 5-1, after Jones’ one free throw, and the Trojans would fall to the Terrapins 62-55, now losers of four straight games.

After the game, Dunn shared her thoughts about how she felt after playing Maryland and her outlook on the upcoming games.

“Outside of the fourth quarter, I felt 10 times better than I felt in the past,” Dunn said. “We just have to keep it up. We’re going through growing pains.”

The Terrapins were able to get to the free-throw line 10 more times than the Trojans, 22 of 26, compared to USC 12 of 15.