Juju Watkins produced 31 points and 10 returns that No. 2 Southern California kept on for a victory 84-79 over the Ninth-seeded Indiana in the Big ten Tournament Quarter Final Play Friday afternoon in Indianapolis.
The Big Ten’s Player of the Year hit 10 out of 19 shots from the field and 10 out of 13 at the line. First-Team All-Big Ten forward Kiki Iriafen added 21 points and 10 returns for the top-seeded Trojans (27-2), who advanced to meet Michigan in Saturday’s first semi-final. USC beat Wolverines 78-58 on December 29 in Los Angeles.
Yarden Garzon hit 5 3 points on the way to 23 points and eight returns for Hoosiers (19-12). Chloe Moore-Mcneil listed 17 points, eight returns and seven assists and Shay Ciezki added 15 points and three blocks.
Playing without the Senior Center Rayah Marshall (7.4 ppg, 8.6 RPG, 2.1 BPG) due to illness, USC was never led by double numbers and held on to a lead of 59-57 into the fourth quarter. The Trojans got some breathing room, but Lilly Meister met a couple of free throw to get Hoosiers within 71-68 with 3:30 left. Talia von Oelhoffen and Watkins responded with back-to-back 3 points on all except clinch USC’s eighth straight victory.
Michigan 98, Maryland 71
After turning almost a full 25-point lead in the first half, Fifth-seeded Michigan calmly built a major lead in the second half to the spring of the quarter finals in No. 15 Maryland.
Jordan Hobbs got 23 points, Syla Swords published 22 points and six assists and Olivia Olson added 20 points and five assists for Michigan (22-9), who rolled away 25 straight points to seize a 31-6 lead early in the second quarter. Wolverines drilled 12 of its 23 3-point attempts and shot 61 percent from the field in total.
Maryland (23-7) went out of land in 16 owners in a row to fall behind 25, but Sarah Te-Biasu delivered 16 of her 25 points during the second quarter when Terps rolled away 16 points in a row to get as close as 38-37 just before half. Christina Dalce added 19 points.
Hobbs swung a 3-pointer at the half-time builder to restore a four-point edge and then add another eight points in the third when Wolverines built a lead of 69-49 in the fourth. They pushed their margin all the way to 98-68 in the declining moments.
-Field level media
