Saniyah Hall and Jazzy Davidson Score 24 Each as No. 3 USC Routs Charleston 105-44

LOS ANGELES. Five days before a showdown with No. 1 South Carolina, USC treated a Tuesday night tuneup like a final exam it had already studied for. The No. 3 Women of Troy forced 21 turnovers, scored 28 fast break points and buried Charleston 105-44 on Nov. 10 at Galen Center.

Freshman Saniyah Hall and sophomore Jazzy Davidson each scored 24 points, and senior JuJu Watkins added 20 in just 22 minutes. USC (3-0) has now scored at least 100 points in all three games this season, something the program had only done once before, in December 1980, and never to open a season.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab), USC's recap (opens in a new tab) and Charleston's recap (opens in a new tab).

Over before the first timeout

Sara Okeke, another freshman, needed 10 seconds to score the first basket of the night, finishing a layup off a pass from Hall. Charleston answered to tie it 2-2, and that was the last time the scoreboard read anything close to even. USC ripped off a 23-2 run, and with 4:14 still left in the first quarter it led 25-4.

The run came straight out of the Trojans' defense. Charleston coughed it up eight times in the opening quarter alone, and USC kept turning those mistakes into layups at the other end. Davidson had nine points in the period, and the Women of Troy took a 29-8 lead into the second.

The second quarter was more of the same. USC scored another 29 points, Watkins piled up 16 points, four assists and four steals before halftime, and the Trojans went to the locker room up 58-23. The halftime numbers told the whole story: USC led 27-15 on the boards and 20-0 in fast break points. Every Charleston basket had to be earned in the half court.

Hall's breakout night

Hall's line is the one that should make the rest of the country pay attention. In 23 minutes the freshman went 8 of 15 from the field, hit two 3s, made 6 of 8 free throws and grabbed eight rebounds. The 24 points and eight rebounds were both career highs.

The third quarter belonged to Hall. Kennedy Smith opened the half with a transition layup, and from there Hall scored 11 points in the period on 4 of 6 shooting. USC shot 61.1 percent in the quarter, closed it on a 15-2 run and led 78-30 with 47 seconds left before taking an 86-35 cushion into the fourth.

Davidson matched Hall's scoring and did it with a little of everything. The sophomore went 9 of 17, made 3 of 5 from deep, and filled the rest of the sheet with four rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks. It was a season high in scoring for Davidson, and the kind of two-way line that makes USC so hard to plan for when Watkins is also on the floor.

Watkins sets the table

Watkins did not need to carry the scoring load, and the box score shows a player comfortable letting it come to her. She went 7 of 13 from the field and 4 of 4 at the line for 20 points, her third straight 20-point game, and handed out a season-high six assists without a single turnover. She also had four steals and four rebounds.

That followed a week in which Watkins was named AP National Player of the Week, the sixth time she has won that award, and USBWA National Player of the Week for the eighth time. The season opener against UNLV on Nov. 2 was her first regular season game in 588 days, and she scored 21. Five days later she put up 32 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against Utah State. According to USC, that was her 22nd career 30-point game, three shy of Cheryl Miller's school record of 25.

Tuesday was a quieter night for her by those standards, and it was probably the most encouraging one for USC. A team that can get 24 apiece from two other players while its star plays 22 minutes is a team with more than one answer.

The depth chart is deep

USC's bench outscored Charleston's 22-9, and the reserves did more than mop up. Junior Ryann Bennett scored a season-high 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting with two 3s and added four assists. Freshman Sitaya Fagan did not make a shot in seven tries, but still had one of the more impressive lines of the night: a game-high nine rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass, plus three blocks and two steals, career highs or ties across the board, per USC.

Laura Williams scored six points on 3 of 4 shooting, including the first basket of the fourth quarter off a feed from Rian Forestier. Senior Pania Davis grabbed six rebounds. Okeke, in the starting lineup, finished 4 of 4 from the field with eight points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes. Smith added seven points, four rebounds and two blocks. Twelve Trojans played, and no one logged more than 26 minutes.

Late in the fourth quarter USC scored 12 straight points and pushed its lead to 64 at 105-41 with 1:23 to go, the biggest of the night. Dakara Merthie's 3 in the final minute set the final margin.

The numbers behind the rout

This was a game decided by possessions, and USC owned almost all of them. The Trojans committed only five turnovers, a season low. Charleston committed 21. USC had 14 steals and 10 blocks, both season highs, and scored 28 points off turnovers while giving up five.

The Trojans also won the paint 52-28, the glass 52-36 and the fast break 28-3. They shot 50.6 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from 3 and 70.8 percent from the line, their third straight game above 50 percent overall. The 23 assists on 39 made baskets point to an offense that moved the ball rather than leaning on isolation.

The one place Charleston won was second chance points, 11-8. The Cougars grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, but they shot 30.2 percent from the field, 3 of 15 from 3 and 3 of 8 at the free throw line. Twenty-eight of their 44 points came in the paint.

Isla Juffermans led Charleston with 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. Anilys Rolon added 10 points with two 3s. Janna Vogelaar, who had just been named CAA Rookie of the Week for the first time, scored seven points and dished out four assists. Charleston's recap noted that 105 points was the most the program had allowed since 2020, when it gave up 119 to a South Carolina team that was ranked No. 1 at the time.

What it means

For Charleston (2-1), this was a one-night trip into a different weight class after wins over Berry and Charleston Southern to open the season. Coach Amanda Butler's team has little time to dwell on it. The Cougars stay out west and play at Cal on Thursday, Nov. 12, at Haas Pavilion.

For USC, Tuesday was mostly about protecting what matters: sharp ball security, a long rotation and nobody leaning too hard on tired legs. The Women of Troy now leave Los Angeles for the stretch that will define their nonconference resume. They face No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET on ABC at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, in the game the schools bill as The Real SC. The last time the two met, on March 24, South Carolina won 101-61.

After that comes Baylor on Nov. 20 at Intuit Dome, a trip to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, and December showcase dates with Notre Dame and Duke in Las Vegas.

USC has looked like a team without an obvious weakness through three games, but it has also faced UNLV, Utah State and Charleston. Sunday is the first real test. If Hall and Davidson can produce like this against the No. 1 team in the country, the gap between USC and the top of the poll may be smaller than last March suggested.

For more on the Trojans, visit our USC team page, and see the full women's AP Top 25 from Nov. 9. On the men's side, read how No. 21 USC held off Wichita State.

Sources: official box score, ESPN, USC Athletics and Charleston Athletics.

Photo: USC Athletics.