USC womens basketball hopes to go on run with Jazzy Davidson cleared

Earlier this week, the USC women’s basketball team delivered essential news about its postseason fate.Jazzy Davidson was back.The star freshman’s return after suffering a shoulder injury in the Big Ten Tournament was far more crucial than where the team was seeded or who it played in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.With Davidson cleared to play, the Trojans have a chance to go on a run.She’s been perhaps the best freshman in the country this season, her array of playmaking skills helping her team withstand the loss of injured superstar JuJu Watkins.Davidson was clearly at less than full strength the rest of the game after injuring her shoulder early in the Trojans’ loss to Washington in the Big Ten Tournament.That setback was USC’s fourth straight defeat, dropping its seeding and raising concerns about its ability to succeed in the postseason.Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said there was no common theme in those losses, pinpointing what had gone wrong in each one.Turnovers had been the big problem during a road loss against then-No.

10 Ohio State.Three days later, Penn State guard Kiyomi McMiller “went nutso” — Gottlieb’s words — by scoring 40 points to help her team beat the Trojans.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story In its final home game, USC lost by 23 points to second-ranked UCLA, and there was no shame in that margin given the quality of the opponent.Perhaps most concerning was the variety of things that went wrong during the Big Ten Tournament loss to Washington beyond Davidson’s injury.“It’s disappointing that it took us a while to really, really be in the fight,” Gottlieb said after her team’s 76-64 loss to the Huskies at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.“And by that, I mean the possessions and plays that ...