On Sunday at 3:00 PM PST on Pac-12 Networks, #18 Cal women’s basketball will welcome the USC Trojans to Haas Pavilion. Cal comes in at 9-3 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-12 while USC comes in at 10-3 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12.

Last time out: Cal lost a heartbreaking game to UCLA on Friday by a final score of 84-79 (OT). Kristine Anigwe had 32 points and 14 rebounds for Cal while Michaela Onyenwere led UCLA with 29 points and 8 rebounds.

RECAP: Cal falls in OT to UCLA

On USC: The Trojans are led by a pair of sisters in junior guard Minyon Moore (15.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, & 6.6 assists) and senior guard Mariya Moore ( 11.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, & 3.6 assists) as well as senior guard Aliyah Mazyck (12.0 points & 4.4 rebounds). When looking at the team stats, it’s clear that defense is the major calling card of this Trojans team as they hold opponents to 56.8 points per game on 37.4% shooting from the field and 30.6% shooting from 3-point range. In their two Pac-12 losses, both UCLA and Stanford scored 72 points, so their defense has weakened as they’ve entered conference play.

The major weakness of this Trojans team is their lack of offensive firepower. The Moore sisters and Mazyck are the only players scoring in double figures, putting a lot of pressure on them to carry the load offensively. To make matters even worse, Mazyck is dealing with an ankle injury and did not make the trip to Palo Alto to face Stanford on Friday. With Mazyck out, there’s even more pressure on the Moore sisters to pick things up on offense.

Keys to the game: For Cal, they find themselves in as close to a must-win situation as you can get in early January. They’ve lost three straight games and the latter two have been major disappointments. There seems to be a hangover from the UConn game that is preventing them from playing their best basketball. They need to snap out of that hangover fast and not dig themselves into another hole. Energy and focus are the key.

One Friday, UCLA did a good job of keeping Kristine Anigwe under wraps for a portion of the game. While her final stats were really strong, UCLA was able to keep her quiet in the first half and also keep the ball out of her hands in crucial possessions. Anigwe needs to play a complete game and not have stretches where she’s not being productive. While it’s great to see her go on a tear in the 3rd quarter, she needs to be making her presence felt in all four quarters of the game.

A final key to this game for Cal is to take better care of the basketball. Against UCLA, they turned the ball over 19 times, really struggling against their ball pressure. Cal has been able to overcome high turnovers in the past, but that doesn’t mean it’s something they can let slide. If Cal turns the ball over fewer than 14 times in this game, their offense will flow a lot better. As an extension of that, Cal needs to be able to get the ball into the hands of Asha Thomas and Kristine Anigwe in crucial moments.