Freshman USC guard Jazzy Davidson had to wait a while before scoring in her collegiate debut Tuesday night. She lost the ball a couple of times before missing her first attempt a three-pointer that bounced off the rim. Then she got called for a travel, then she missed another three and another jumper right before the first-quarter buzzer.
But early in the second, junior forward Gerda Raulusaityte grabbed a rebound and found the freshman breaking in transition. Davidson, who was the No. 1 high school recruit in the nation, took it to the rim and laid the ball in over an Aggie defender for the first bucket of her college career.
She got into a rhythm from there, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal in USCs 87-48 season-opening walloping of New Mexico State. Three other Trojans scored in double figures, led by UCLA transfer Londynn Jones with 16 points. Kara Dunn scored l12 points to go with eight rebounds, while Kennedy Smith added 11 points.
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Davidsons best sequence of the night came in the third quarter, when she came off a screen, dribbled down to the baseline, spun between two defenders and hit a soft jumper from the wing. She did it again on the very next possession, this time coming down from the top of the key, pirouetting into the paint and dropping in the easy two-footer.
Later in the quarter, the Aggies double teamed Davidson at the elbow. As she fought to keep possession of the ball, she found Dunn wide open in the corner and heaved it to her. Dunn let the three fly and swished it in to push the Trojans lead to 30 points.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.