LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team snapped its four-game losing streak and picked up its third Big Ten Conference win on Sunday afternoon by beating Purdue 83-57. “It was really fun,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters. “It was also our alumni day. There’s nothing like the Women of Troy and the history of this program, and so I thought we were really worthy of the greatness that’s come before us today.” Starting guard Kennedy Smith also made her return to the lineup after missing the last three games due to a lower leg injury. Smith tied for a team-high six assists and scored four points in her return. She made her first basket of the game on a layup at the 5:26 mark in the first quarter, and the two points gave USC (11-7 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) an 11-7 lead. The sophomore resumed a workload similar to what she had prior to the injury and went on to play 24 minutes. “Having Ken back on the court is a huge blessing,” senior guard Kara Dunn told reporters. “We love to have her because even though she’s a sophomore, she knows what she’s doing on the defensive end and on the offensive end. It makes everything so much easier.” Dunn led the Trojans with a season-high 29 points while pulling down five rebounds. Londynn Jones chipped in 15 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 on free throws and Jazzy Davidson scored 13 points. Vivian Uwuchukwu made her first start since the Dec. 7 game against Washington and sixth start overall this season. The 6-foot-3 sophomore forward started off the scoring in the second quarter with a layup and made another basket just as the shot clock expired for a 30-11 Trojan advantage over the Boilermakers (11-8, 2-5). “Viv’s a workhorse,” Gottlieb said. “She comes in with a positive attitude every day. She’s always watching film. She’s always working, and she’s a tremendous athlete. She just remains coachable. I’m hard on Viv. I want the best out of her, and I think she’s strung together more and more positives than anything else.” USC scored six unanswered points to separate itself in the first quarter and kept piling on the points in the first half for a 42-27 lead at the midway point of the game. Even though Davidson made only four out of her 12 shots, she still found ways to impact the game. She tossed a pass to Smith, who was waiting in the paint for a chance to hook a layup. “I think making that one more pass when your teammate’s open and just the excitement and energy that brings to the team is kind of priceless,” Davidson said. “So I try to facilitate as best as I can. And I mean, we have some great shot makers on this team.” Purdue big Lana McCarthy fouled out of the game early in the fourth quarter, and the Boilermakers’ Tara Daye and Kendall Puryear also entered foul trouble in the third. Meanwhile, USC’s offense kept flowing. Dunn tied her season high of 27 points when she made a layup with eight minutes left in the game and shot .706 from the field for her best shooting night since the Nov. 28 game against Pepperdine. The Trojans outscored Purdue 24-15 in the third quarter and 17-15 in the fourth to close out the game. USC’s competition will ramp up significantly later this week when it heads to the Mitten State for a two-game road trip against No. 8 Michigan (17-1, 6-1) and No. 15 Michigan State (16-1, 6-1). “We’re going to keep the foot on the gas,” Gottlieb said. “The day off is going to feel better, but I think they’re gonna be highly motivated to do what we’re capable of doing going forward. And the Big Ten is so hard and so good. You have opportunities all the time. I want to see them looking at it that way.” ...read more read less