Iriafen leads No. 4 USC against Penn State after 21-point outing

Penn State Lady Lions (9-7, 0-5 Big Ten) at USC Trojans (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten)

Los Angeles; Sunday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 4 USC faces Penn State after Kiki Iriafen scored 21 points in USC's 79-74 victory against the Maryland Terrapins.

The Trojans have gone 8-1 at home. USC ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 26.4 defensive rebounds per game led by Rayah Marshall averaging 6.3.

The Lady Lions have gone 0-5 against Big Ten opponents. Penn State averages 75.2 points and has outscored opponents by 8.8 points per game.

USC scores 84.1 points, 17.7 more per game than the 66.4 Penn State allows. Penn State has shot at a 46.7% clip from the field this season, 12.8 percentage points greater than the 33.9% shooting opponents of USC have averaged.

The matchup Sunday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: JuJu Watkins averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Trojans, scoring 24.9 points while shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc.

Gracie Merkle is scoring 16.8 points per game with 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the Lady Lions.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trojans: 10-0, averaging 83.7 points, 40.4 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 10.3 steals and 7.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 53.9 points per game.

Lady Lions: 3-7, averaging 65.7 points, 32.2 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press