Jazzy Davidson and USC women face tough NCAA tournament path

After a rocky season without its injured superstar, USC still managed to return to the NCAA Tournament. But his path won’t get any smoother from here.

The Trojans clinched a berth for the fourth straight season on Sunday. They will be seeded No. 9 and will face No. 8 seed Clemson in Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday.

While the Trojans will have to travel cross-country to face Clemson, the Tigers will only have a two-hour drive from their campus.

“We obviously won’t have home field advantage,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “But we’ll bring our West Coast juice. We’ll bring our energy. And I think we’ll see the best version of ourselves.”

A win in that game would set up a rematch in Columbia with No. 1 seed South Carolina, who handily beat the Trojans when they met in November.

History won’t be on the Trojans’ side in this matchup either. Only twice in the last 15 years has a No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the women’s tournament upset a No. 1 seed.

But USC is no ordinary ninth seed, either. The Trojans played one of the toughest schedules in the country, playing 15 games against teams ranked higher than them in the tournament. Four of them were against No. 1 seeds, all losses.

“We intentionally put ourselves in the position of playing the best teams because that’s what we want to be ready for,” Gottlieb said. “We are not afraid of very good teams.”

Just a year ago, USC entered March as one of the favorites to win the national title. But JuJu Watkins injured her knee in the second round. The injury forced her to sit out the entire season, seriously derailing USC’s plans for the 2025-26 season.

The Trojans relied on another dazzling young talent, Jazzy Davidson, to lead them in March. And Davidson delivered, leading the Trojans in points (17.6), rebounds (5.6), assists (4.2), blocks (2) and steals (2). She was even named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

USC opened the season 10-3, with two of those losses coming against two No. 1 seeds, Connecticut and South Carolina. But the rest of the Big Ten season would prove to be a frustrating affair. The Trojans lost six of seven, before rebounding to win six straight. They ultimately finished the regular season on a four-game losing streak, clawing their way to a flawless victory in the Big Ten tournament.

But this winding path no longer matters since Sunday. USC made the NCAA Tournament, regardless.

Now, with a clean slate, the Trojans had a new rallying cry heading into the tournament.

“Be the team,” guard Kara Dunn said, “that someone else doesn’t I want to play. »