Coach Gottlieb and the USC Trojans get their first win of the season

USC Trojans #5 Jordan Sanders (F) pushing the ball upcourt. Photo by Marja Bene/T.G.Sportstv1.

11/12/21 LOS ANGELES, CA - The USC Trojans last night hosted the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine for their first game of the season at the Galen Center, won 90-50 to give first-year head coach Lindsey Gottlieb her first win.

Jordan Sanders led USC in scoring with 17-points, Rayah Marshall with 15-points, Angel Jackson and Tera Reed each with 11-points, and Jordyn Jenkins with 10-points.

Kalin Spiller led Hawaii in scoring with 14-points, McKenna Haire's 11-points, and Jacque David's 8-points.

Tera Reed's dribble-drive layup gave the Trojans a 7-2 lead in the first quarter. Angel Jackson's layup increased USC's lead to 11-4. The Trojans closed out the first quarter leading 15-6.

USC led 17-6 in the second quarter after Jackson made a jump shot. Jordan Sanders' three-point shot gave the Trojans a 23-9 lead.

Desire Caldwell's jump shot inside the key had the Trojans up 25-9 with 5:24 left in the first half.

Back-to-back three-pointers by McKenna Haire and Hawaii down by ten points, 25-15, forced USC to call a timeout. Jacque David's three-pointer had Hawaii down 32-24 with 1:54 left in the first half.

USC led Hawaii 35-26 at halftime, with Jackson, the leading scorer, with 7-points, Reed and Marhsall both with 6-points, and Jordan Sanders with 5-points. Haire led Hawaii in scoring with 8-points, Spiller 7-points, and David 5-points.

The Trojans led the Rainbow Wahine 54-37 in the third quarter after a layup by Jackson. USC Led Hawaii at the end of the third quarter 62-45 with a b layup from Sanders.

Jordyn Jenkins's back-to-back layups had the Trojans leading 68-46 with 8:26 left in the game. Reed's floater in the lane pushed the Trojans’ lead up to 75-46.

Hawaii trailed USC 80-46 after a three-pointer by Madison Campbell with 4:50 left in the game. The Trojans led 87-46 with Clarice Akunwafo's layup.

USC's Madison Cambell's three-pointer in front of her bench would make the final score to end the game 90-50.

"Not playing in front of a crowd for two seasons, it felt nice playing in front of fans, and hearing them cheering for us," said Jordan Sanders." It helped us get going in the second half."

Tera Reed from Auckland New Zealand played her first game as a Trojan and seemed to fit right in with the offense that Coach Gottlieb was running.

"I think I just know who I need to be getting the ball to at certain times," Reed said after the game. "It's just knowing my teammates and knowing where they're going to hit their shots and then getting the ball to them."

After the game, The Trojans' head coach shared her thoughts about their first game of the season.

"They came out in a zone and it affected us a little bit," Gottlieb said after the game. "We had to get ourselves going, but I thought our defense and our toughness were there from the jump. I really appreciated how we figured it out. Our players took a lot of that on themselves."

USC's defense forced Hawaii to commit 16 turnovers that allowed them to score 25 points, made 34 of their 66 shots in the game 51.5%, bench points 45, and points in the paint 40.

Hawaii shot poorly in the game, making only 20 of their 66 shots for 30.3%, and their offense couldn't get anything going in the first half. USC will play their game on Sunday, November 14, on the road against Virginia.