Obviously, this season has not exactly gone according to plan for USC women’s basketball. Entering Thursday’s matchup against No. 8 Iowa, the Women of Troy had dropped six of their past seven games, and sat closer to the bottom of the Big Ten standings than the top.
On Thursday night at Galen Center, USC finally delivered the type of performance that fans have come to expect from this program over the past few years. The Trojans played their best game of the season, knocking off a Hawkeyes team that was previously undefeated in Big Ten play 81-69.
The victory felt like exactly what this team needed. While by no means did it erase the stench of what has been a miserable January, it at least temporarily get the bad taste out of their mouth.
“Obviously a big win for us on so many levels, Iowa was undefeated in conference so far,” head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said following the game. “I’m so proud of our team. Great performances across the board.
“We are a better basketball team now than we were then and we just need to keep showing it on the court.”
The Trojans still have a long way to go if they want to prove that they are capable of winning anything of note this season. Thursday’s upset of Iowa, however, was a massive step in the right direction after numerous steps in the wrong direction over the past few weeks. USC is hoping that the victory will provide a spark of momentum for the team to turn things around as the calendar flips to February.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC women’s basketball upsets No. 8 Iowa as Kara Dunn dominates