Jordyn Jenkins Has Career Night As USC Women’s Basketball Fights Back To Beat Washington 70-59 In Seattle

SEATTLE — The USC women's basketball team dug in and mounted a fierce second half to come back and beat Washington 70-59 tonight in Seattle. USC's Washington native, sophomore Jordyn Jenkins, made herself right at home and exploded for a career-high 29 points and 15 rebounds, hitting a career-best 12 free throws along the way to also tally her fifth double-double. USC snapped a seven-game skid with the road victory to improve to 10-12 overall and 3-9 in Pac-12 play, while Washington now sits at 5-12, 0-9.

USC made an 11-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to work into the lead, only to see Washington pull back ahead with a late push to close out the first half. The Huskies led it 29-23 at the break on 32-percent shooting to outpace USC's 28.1 percent, while Washington hit three 3-pointers and went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. USC, meanwhile, hit just one first-half three and was 4-of-5 from the stripe in those first 20 minutes of play. USC would pick up the pace in the next stretch, outscoring Washington 47-36 in the second half and finishing the game shooting 37.7 percent from the floor. Washington wrapped at 31.6 percent, while USC also led on the boards 40-36 by the final buzzer.

Jenkins led all with her 29-point, 15-rebound effort for the Trojan cause, while Jordan Sanders added a season-high 18 points and Rayah Marshall netted 10 for USC. Washington was led by Lauren Schwatz's 16 points, with Nancy Mulkey contributing 13 — 11 of which came in the first half — and Trinity Oliver with 11 for the Huskies. 

An early cold spell saw USC fall behind 11-4 midway through the first frame, but USC would turn it up and outscore Washington 9-0 in the final five minutes with six points from Jordyn Jenkins and a 3-pointer from Alyson Miura fueling the Trojans' comeback push to make it 13-11 Trojans entering the second. A three-point play from Jenkins got her into double digits for the 13th straight game while tugging the Trojans ahead 19-14 at 6:19, but the Huskies buried back-to-back threes next to edge ahead  20-19 at 4:55. Washington would outscore USC 9-2 in the final stretch, and the Huskies held a 29-23 lead at halftime.

USC reeled the Huskies back in in the third with a 9-2 run of its own. Washington got back ahead with a bucket to make it 33-32 at 5:10, but Jenkins promptly buried a 3-pointer to get herself across the 20-point barrier for the fourth straight game and nudge her Trojans ahead 35-33 with 5:25 on the clock. The Huskies would snarl it up a minute later, but USC manufactured a 10-2 rally next to press ahead to a 45-37 advantage entering the final minute of the third. UW got a late one to go, and USC was up 47-40 on the way into the fourth.  There, the Trojans busted out the first eight points of the frame to mount a 55-40 lead three minutes into the quarter. That would grow to 65-48 as a hot-handed Jordan Sanders converted a three-point play at 4:42. Washington made a little noise down the stretch, but the Trojans had things in had as USC closed out the 70-59 victory. 

NOTABLE:
 With a career-high 29 points today, SO Jordyn Jenkins has scored in double digits in 13 straight games, with four consecutive 20-point outings now.
- Jenkins has now recorded seven 20-point-plus games this season.
- With  a career-high 15 rebounds, Jenkins recorded her fifth career double-double (all this season)
- Jenkins also made a career-high 12 free throws and shot a career-high 13.
- With three blocks tonight, FR Rayah Marshall extended her run of games with at least one block to 17 straight. 
- With 10 points, Marshall scored in double digits for the sixth straight game. 
- With 18 points, GS Jordan Sanders scored a season high.
- USC snapped a seven-game losing skid with tonight's road win.
- This was USC's first road victory since a Nov. 14, 2021 win at Virginia.

NEXT:
USC heads over to Pullman next for a rematch at Washington State at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 13).