Surging Southern Cal knocks off No. 25 Colorado women 71-54

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Brianna McLeod gets the hoop and the harm

Brianna McLeod gets the hoop and the harm

Jan 29, 2023, 10:16 pm

BOULDER, Colo. -- — Destiny Littleton scored 21 points, Rayah Marshall and Kadi Sissoko had double-doubles, and Southern California defeated No. 25 Colorado 71-54 on Sunday.

Marshall had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Sissoko added 18 and 12, and Littleton made 6 of 13 3-pointers, four of them in a key third-quarter surge that put the Trojans (16-5, 6-4 Pac-12) in command.

In the third quarter, the Trojans matched their first-half output, scoring 26 points to take a 52-41 lead into the fourth quarter. Littleton scored 12 points in the quarter on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. USC added the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 58-41 with 8:55 remaining and the Trojans led by at least 13 points the rest of the way.

Posts Quay Miller and Aaronette Vonleh paced the Buffaloes (16-5, 7-3). Miller had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Vonleh scored 16 with five rebounds. Colorado's three starting guards shot 4-for-20 and totaled nine points.

The pace of the first half was well in line with USC’s No. 5 in the nation 51.4 points allowed per game. The Trojans led 26-22 at halftime after both teams shot less than 38%. USC led 14-9 after the first quarter, then Colorado scored the first six points of the second quarter, taking a 15-14 lead. Brianna McLeod hit a layup for a 21-17 Colorado lead with 4:24 to go before the Trojans finished the half on a 9-1 run.

USC has won five of its past six games, including a win over No. 2 Stanford two weeks ago.

After opening the season 8-0 at home, it was an 0-2 weekend in Boulder for Colorado after also losing to No. 8 UCLA 73-70 in overtime on Friday.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP--Top25