USC sophomore guard Alyson Miura made a splashy return from injury on Sunday, scoring 10 points in the Trojans’ 81-71 victory over host Washington State.
The Trojans rounded out an important road win with a comeback victory in Pullman, after trailing the Cougars by 11 in the final quarter.
Five Trojans scored in double digits in the victory to provide a balanced attack that kept WSU off balance.
USC improves to 9-7 overall and to 7-6 in the Pac-12 with its third straight win and second of the season over Washington State, which is now 9-7, 7-7.
After trailing 18-7 in the first quarter, UC stold into the lead and would never trail again thanks to a 10-2 scoring rally midway through the second quarter.
Shalexxus Aaron’s third 3-pointer of the half was followed by a buzzer-beater from Endyia Rogers, and the Trojanswere up 41-34 at halftime, having nailed seven threes in the first half. WSU had hit five threes in those first 20 minutes and was shooting 44 percent overall.
In the third quarter, USC and WSU matched each other with 22 points each, with Rogers providing another buzzer-beating bucket to give USC a boost entering the fourth. That’s where the Trojans dug deep. WSU fought back to tie it up on its ninth 3-pointer of the game, locking it at 71-71 with 2:30 to go.
Amidst several USC trips to the free-throw line in the remaining time, Rogers came up with back-to-back acrobatic finishes to help the Trojans take back control en route to the final 81-71 win.
WSU outshot the Trojans from the floor in the game, shooting 50 percent overall to outpace USC’s final 35.7 percent output.
Led by Rogers’ team-high 22 points, USC had Alissa Pili score 18, Aaron add 15 and Desiree Caldwell provide 14 for the Trojan cause.
Miura also had three assists and a steal in her 19 minutes of play. Sunday was her first double-digit scoring performance since Jan. 14, 2020.
Next up for USC is a road trip that begins at Colorado on Friday, followed by a date at Utah next Sunday.
— Courtesy USC Athletics