Ladine, Howell lead Washington women to 76-64 win over USC in Big Ten Tournament's second round

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Elle Ladine scored a season-high 25 points, Avery Howell added 18 points and nine rebounds and Washington defeated USC 76-64 in the second round of Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

The eighth-seeded Huskies (22-9) will take on top seed and second-ranked UCLA in a Friday quarterfinal.

Hannah Stines scored 12 points, Brynn McGaughy added 10 and Yulia Grabovskaia collected 10 rebounds for Washington. Leading scorer Sayvia Sellers (19.2) dealt with four fouls and had just four points on free throws in 28 minutes. Other Huskies filled the scoring gap with Washington shooting 50% and dominating the boards 44-27 in outscoring the Trojans 40-14 in the paint.

Londynn Jones scored 19 points, Kennedy Smith added 14 and Laura Williams had 13 rebounds to go with nine points for the Trojans (17-13).

Big Ten freshman of the year Jazzy Davidson, who leads the Trojans in scoring, rebounding and assists, scored eight points on 2-of-13 shooting over 29 minutes. Davidson, who appeared to hurt her shoulder early on, sat out the final seven minutes.

The Huskies led by double figures throughout the second half and by as many as 23. They shot 67% in the third quarter with Ladine scoring eight points to lead 56-36. USC got as close as 10 with two minutes left in the game.

After a first quarter when the teams combined for just 14 points, Ladine scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the second including the last six points for a 32-20 halftime edge.

USC won a home meeting with Washington 59-50 in the regular season.

Washington lost at UCLA 82-67 on Feb. 19.

USC waits to see where it will land in the NCAA Tournament field.

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