The odds were not in favor of the ASU women's basketball team going into Thursday night's game against USC.
The Women of Troy had simply owned ASU, winning 45 of the teams' 54 meetings all-time. USC had won the last five meetings and 21 of the last 26 at Wells Fargo Arena.
Senior guard Kylan Loney made the most out of what was probably her final meeting with USC, leading the Sun Devils to their 10th win all-time over the Women of Troy.
"I kept saying to Kylan, 'What's your problem with this team?' " ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "She played a lot more aggressive tonight than she's been in the past, and I think it's good that [USC] is off our back now."
Loney was hitting on all cylinders early with back-to-back three-pointers to open the scoring for ASU.
"I came out and told myself that I'm going to be aggressive and take my shots," Loney said. "It's really important for me to go into every game like that because if I go in timid it's hard for me to get going."
Loney led all scorers at halftime with 10 points and added three assists. USC's three starting guards managed just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Loney carried her fast-paced leadership into the second half, hitting a 15-foot jumper to put the Sun Devils ahead by 11 points.
More impressive was Loney's play without the ball and her hustle that rubbed off on the rest of the team.
"I need to work my butt off so (my teammates) see that," Loney said. "Sometimes our team gets in a rut and we need to find a way to get out of it, and it's good that the players on our team have good leadership skills."
With 2:04 remaining in the game, Loney faked a three-pointer and cut to the basket for an uncontested lay-up. The score put the Sun Devils ahead by four points, all but wrapping up the win. Loney ended the night with a game-high 14 points.
The win not only snapped ASU's losing streak against USC, but it avenged a 21-point loss to the Women of Troy on Jan. 16.
"We definitely didn't go there and play," junior forward Kristen Kovesdy said of their game at USC earlier this year. "It was a big focus of ours [this week] to show them the team that we are because we didn't show it when we played there."
Reach the reporter at brian.knapp@asu.edu.
