The Cal Poly Mustangs Women’s Basketball rigorous preseason schedule continued with a loss to No. 6 USC in an 85-44 blowout on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
Earlier in the season, the Mustangs lost to No. 24 Washington State University and No. 6 Stanford University. The team also had notable matchups against the University of California, Berkeley and San José State University.
The Mustangs fall to 2-5, while the Trojans remain undefeated.
Leading USC is the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class Juju Watkins. The five-star recruit finished with 30 points in the 40-point win.
The Mustangs are coming off a win against Seattle University, where they outscored the Redhawks 40-17 in the second half. Junior guard Annika Shah (22 points) and senior center Natalia Ackerman (13 points) led the Mustangs in scoring against the Redhawks.
Shah (67 points) and Ackerman (61 points) also led the team in scoring coming into the game.
Right out of the gate, the Trojans took the lead, and the Mustangs never had a chance to come back.
The Mustangs found themselves down 42-20 at halftime.
The Mustangs gained some momentum in the third quarter when Watkins collided heads with Ackerman. Watkins went back to the locker room after the collision due to her nose bleeding. The Mustangs were able to have a nine-and-zero run for about three and a half minutes.
But the Mustangs’ turnover problems (20.3 turnovers per game) persisted. The team committed 25 turnovers compared to the Trojans nine. The Trojans were able to capitalize off of many of the Mustangs’ turnovers (31 points off turnovers).
Freshman forward Mary Carter continues an outstanding start to the season as she led the Mustangs in points with 11 points. Junior forward Sydney Bourland added 10 points.
The Mustangs’ next game is on Dec. 9th at 2 p.m. in Mott Athletic Center versus Fresno State.