USC Makes Pivotal Defensive Play Stand Up

NORFOLK, Va. —  Chloe Kerr blocked a shot by South Florida’s Jessica Dickson with 16 seconds to play Sunday night and Camille LeNoir made two free throws in the final 12 seconds as USC won its first-round NCAA women’s tournament game, 67-65.

The eighth-seeded Trojans (19-11) advanced to a game against top-seeded Duke on Tuesday night in the Bridgeport Regional.

Shantia Grace had a chance to tie it for the Bulls (19-12) with 4.8 seconds left, but she missed the first of two free throws. After she made the second, LeNoir was fouled with 4.1 seconds left, and she made one of two from the line to help secure the win.

Grace’s desperate heave at the buzzer wasn’t even close.

“It was a great game, both teams played very well,” USC Coach Mark Trakh said. “Both teams hit big shots. Luckily though, we won the game by two.”

USC was 13 for 16 from the free-throw line in the second half, when the lead changed hands 10 times. Eshaya Murphy provided the last change, giving the Trojans a 65-64 lead by making both ends of a one-and-one with 25.3 seconds remaining. Then with Dickson driving to put the Bulls back ahead, Kerr blocked the shot, tying up the ball and getting the Trojans the ball back on the possession arrow.

Murphy had 21 points, LeNoir 17 and Kerr 16. Kerr added 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for USC. Dickson led the ninth-seeded Bulls with 18 points in their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile, Trakh was upbeat about facing Duke, saying, “I was watching the Duke game, and I’ve seen them play before, and they are just incredible. They are huge, extremely skilled, and very well coached. But we have nothing to lose.”