5 things to watch as USC women's basketball takes on No. 12 Maryland

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The USC women's basketball team is in the midst of its first three-game losing streak since 2021-22, Lindsay Gottlieb's first season as head coach. The Trojans have lost two straight games to unranked teams and dropped out of the AP poll. These are growing pains if we've ever seen them.

But, this is still a dangerous team. The Trojans still have three ranked wins this season, versus NC State, Washington and Nebraska. The wins over the Wolfpack and Cornhuskers came on the road. With all the talent on the roster, USC is not a team that you can count out in any game.

Now, heading into their matchup against Maryland, they are desperate, more desperate than the program has been in a while. Could the combination of desperation and talent fuel USC to an upset win against Maryland?

Here are five things to watch as the Trojans look to defend home court against the Terrapins on Tuesday:

Can USC play consistent basketball?

This has been a big issue all season long. USC is very, very streaky. The Trojans couldn't score in the first several minutes against Minnesota, allowing the Golden Gophers to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Then, USC outscored Minnesota 24-12 in the second quarter. The second half was a tighter battle, but Minnesota just edged out USC in both the third and fourth quarters.

USC has had trouble getting off to fast starts, trouble holding onto a lead, and trouble at all the times in between too.

USC doesn't need to be perfect, but they do need to stop letting a couple of bad moments snowball into bad play for an entire quarter, and play more consistent basketball. Can USC keep its effort consistent and stay in the game from opening tip to final whistle against Maryland?

Is Jazzy Davidson's 3-point stroke coming along?

Ever since the season opener, USC freshman star guard Jazzy Davidson has struggled to shoot three-pointers consistently. Davidson went 0-7 from beyond the arc in the season opener against New Mexico State, and has shot only 29.7% from long range this season. That ranks 7th on the Trojans, second-worst of anyone on the team who has attempted even one three-point shot this season.

But against Minnesota, Davidson had her best game of three-point shooting in the entire season. Davidson shot 5-9 from beyond the arc against the Golden Gophers (55.6%). Her 5 made threes represent a career high, and her 55.6% three-point percentage are also a career-high mark in efficiency in games that she has attempted more than three three-pointers.

USC has lacked consistent three-point shooting all season long. If Davidson gets hot from beyond the arc and becomes a consistent scoring option from distance, it could unlock an entirely new dimension of USC's offense.

Will Kennedy Smith return?

Kennedy Smith has missed USC's last two games with a lower leg injury. USC has been evaluating her status on a day-to-day basis.

In the two games Smith has missed, USC has lost, both times to unranked opponents. Defense has been a big issue, especially against the Ducks' and Gophers' star guards. When USC is faltering like I talked about earlier in the article, inconsistent perimeter defense makes the spiral worse.

Smith also seemed to be straightening out her offensive struggles before the injury; she had her best offensive game of the season versus No. 20 Nebraska before getting hurt against UCLA.

Can Smith make her return and be an X factor against the Terrapins?

Can USC slow down Yarden Garzon beyond the arc?

With or without Smith on the court, USC needs to figure out how to slow down Yarden Garzon.

Garzon has the most made three-pointers in the entire Big Ten conference and is shooting 41% from beyond the arc this season. She's been especially excellent from beyond the arc in Maryland's last two games. She went a perfect 6-6 in Maryland's win over Rutgers and 5-10 in Maryland's loss to Ohio State.

Given USC's own struggles to shoot the three, excellent three-point shooting from their opponents could be the difference in the game. The Trojans cannot let Garzon get in rhythm -- which will be tough against a crafty veteran who will do anything to get her shots up.

Is Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu the X factor for Maryland?

Like USC, Maryland relies on its guards to provide most of the scoring. But, while the Trojans don't have a single player listed as a forward on their roster that is averaging more than 3.5 points per game, the Terrapins do have a reliable veteran scorer at the forward position: Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu.

Ozzy-Momodu, a redshirt junior out of London, England, averages 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Terrapins.

If USC manages to make it tough to score for all of Maryland's guard talent, could they turn to Ozzy-Momodu for an offensive spark in the paint? Her career high is 15 points; she can be a big contributor to Maryland's offensive efforts if she needs to.

Regardless of who has a good game for Maryland on Thursday and who doesn't, the Trojans will have a tough task trying to pull off an upset win. Hopefully the Trojans can play consistent basketball and progress in some of the areas that have hindered them thus far.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC women's basketball faces Maryland at Galen Center on Thursday

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