USC couldn’t over come poor shooting in the first half, fall to UConn 79-51

USC Trojans #11 Kennedy Smith (G) looking over the UConn Huskies’ defense looking for a teammate to get open to pass the basketball to. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 December 13, 2025.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The No.16-ranked USC Trojans ( 7-3, 1-0,Big Ten) pick the wrong time to have the worst shooting night, 16 of 53 from the floor, 30.2 percent, and 4 of 19 from 3pt range, 21.9 percent, got outplayed badly by the No. 1-ranked UConn Huskies (10-0, 2-0, Big East), and lost 79-51 at the Galen Center.

Kennedy Smith (5-15) led the Trojans in scoring with 16 points, Londynn Jones (3-10) with 14 points, and Jazzy Davidson (3-13) with 10 points, and for the Huskies, Azzi Fudd with 17 points, Ashlynn Shade with 15 points, and Sarah Strong with 14 points.

USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who played basketball and graduated from Brown in 1999, my prayers went out to her on how she handled coaching the game after shooting at Brown University.

“We're the only country that lives this way,” Gottlieb said, her voice shaking as she noted that she knew people who have children at Brown. “Parents should not have to be worried about their kids.”

USC committed 20 turnovers in the game, which led to 26 points for UConn, and had only 12 points from their turnovers.

UConn Huskies #35 Azzi Fudd (G) shooting a three-pointer while being challenge on the shot by USC Trojans #9 Jazzy Davidson (G). Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 December 13, 2025.

The Trojans would take a 3-2 lead in the first quarter with a three-pointer by Kara Dunn, but the Huskies began to pull away with a three-pointer by Azzi Fudd to lead 21-9, and closed out the quarter leading 23-9 with a layup by Sarah Strong.

Davidson’s jump shot had USC trailing 23-11 in the second quarter. UConn would go on a 15-0 run, capped off with a layup by Ashlynn Shade to give them a 28-11 lead. The Huskies would lead at halftime by 22 points, 39-17.

Jones, with a layup in the third quarter, had the Trojans down 55-21. Strong would drive to the basket for a layup to increase the Huskies' lead to 64-29, before ending the third quarter leading by 30 points, 69-39, with a jump shot by Shade.

In the fourth quarter, the Trojans ran out of gas, and their poor shooting continued, and they fell to a more physical team, the Huskies, 79-51.