Women of Troy Beat Fresno State in Home Opener

The USC women's basketball team is off to a great start and got an opportunity to show the home crowd its stuff for the first time on Sunday afternoon. The Women of Troy didn't disappoint, winning their third straight game. The Trojans (3-1) defeated Fresno State 68-50 to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

USC shot above 50 percent from the field for the third straight game and had six players score eight or more points, including four players finishing in double figures. Courtney Jaco and Alexyz Vaioletama led the way with 12 points each.

Jaco needed just five field goal attempts. She knocked down three of her four 3-pointers while Vaioletama shot 6-for-11 from the field and added seven rebounds.

The game was close until the Women of Troy went on a 17-3 run in the second half to break open what had been a four-point game. Along with Jaco and Vaioletama, guards Jordan Adams and Brianna Barrett both finished in double digits, scoring 10 points each. Both were 5-for-10 from the field. Adams also had six assists while Barrett pulled down six rebounds.

Kaneshia Horn finished a point and a rebound shy of a double-double, ending with nine of each. Freshman forward Kristen Simon came off the bench to score eight points. It was just part of the Trojans' dominance in the paint where they outscored Fresno State 44-22 and outrebounded the Bulldogs 40-21.

The Women of Troy would have produced an even bigger blowout if it wasn't for 18 turnovers and only shooting 43 percent from the free throw line. There are still some things that Cynthia Cooper-Dyke will be working on with her team this week before USC heads to Dallas for a Thanksgiving weekend tournament at Southern Methodist. The Trojans will start with Sam Houston State on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.

After the game, former guard Destinie Gibbs talked with Courtney Jaco about her strong game: