The USC women’s basketball team is stuck. Stuck at 2–4 in conference play, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb won’t look for a way out. Instead, she’s taking a page from Mark Pope of Kentucky: stop talking about the problem and start fighting through it. Gottlieb knows that the only way to get through the struggle is to go straight through it. And in doing so, she finds a common ground with Pope.

After the Trojans lost to No. 12 Maryland 62-55, Lindsay Gottlieb talked about Pope’s philosophy in her postgame press conference.

“There’s just no other option,” USC head coach stated. “I never felt as like seen as when Mark Pope at Kentucky had that press conference. People hung on just kind of what he said, maybe half jest, half real, but the gist of what he was saying is there’s no choice. No one wants to be in a situation where things are hard, but your only option is to figure it out and fight your way through it.”

Pope often stresses that setbacks aren’t reasons to quit but opportunities to learn and grow. He always urges his players to deep dive and respond to that adversity. To keep going no matter how brutal the challenge is.

For USC, the challenge is big. The record tells the story: 10 wins and 7 losses, 2 wins and 4 losses in Big Ten play. The Trojans were ahead of Maryland after the first quarter. Their defense made Maryland turn the ball over 13 times in the first half. Everything changed in the second half, especially the fourth quarter, when Gottlieb’s side ended up scoring 13 points, and even their star player, Jazzy Davidson, lost form.

But this isn’t a talent issue. It’s pressure. The Trojans fell apart at the exact moment when execution was most important, which is why Gottlieb’s message (not avoiding problems but pushing through) hits so hard.

Kara Dunn echoed this message of gradual progress in her own comments after the game. “Outside of how the fourth quarter went with crucial plays not going the way we wanted them to, the way we came out and the way that we played today was 10 times better than it had been in the past games,” Dunn acknowledged. “I told everybody that I’m really proud of it. We need to keep it up. We just need to do a little bit more.”

Dunn backed up what she said with action. The senior scored 21 points. She made seven field goals, four three-pointers, five rebounds, and five assists. She and Davidson were the only Trojans to reach double figures.

Safe to say, the reality has finally started to set in for the Trojans.

Lindsay Gottlieb and the Trojans face mounting challenges

In theory, fighting through hard times sounds great. But after losing game after game, those words start to sound empty. USC has lost four in a row, and this one hurts just as much as the others. The Trojans lost only four games last season. This year? They’ve already matched that in just their current losing streak.

The annoying thing is that USC’s defense was there. Holding Maryland to just 62 points should win most games. But the offense was totally lost. The Trojans made only 28% of their shots from the field and only 16% of their shots from three. No matter how well your defense plays, you can’t win if you shoot like that.

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The whole story was told by Davidson’s performance. In the first eight minutes, she scored 12 points and looked like she couldn’t be stopped. After that, she didn’t say anything else for the rest of the game. Your team has no chance when your star player disappears like that.

However, the biggest problem currently is that Kennedy Smith isn’t there. Smith does it all: plays defense, gets rebounds, and makes plays. And now that she isn’t on the floor, Davidson’s opponents can focus on her, limiting her impact.  The Trojans really need their sophomore back. Hope she recovers soon from her lower leg injury.

Next up, the Trojans will have a chance to execute their philosophy and game plan when Purdue comes to town on Sunday.