The No. 21 Washington Huskies women's basketball team entered Sunday's game against the No. 16 USC Trojans undefeated.

Washington was unable to continue its undefeated ways and fell 59-50 to USC at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

The name of the game for both teams was defense.

For the game, the Huskies shot 27% (18-for-67) from the field and 24% (6-for-25) from beyond the arc. The Trojans connected on 38% of its shots (23-for-60) from the floor and 12% (2-for-17) from 3-point range.

The two Big Ten foes combined for 12 points in the first quarter. Washington opened the game on an 8-0 run and USC responded with two buckets to close out the first quarter. The Huskies led 8-4 after the first 10 minutes.

Sophomore guard Avery Howell, who played her first game against the Trojans since transferring, and junior guard Sayvia Sellers both hit a 3-pointer to account for six points of Washington's initial 8-0 run.

Sellers finished with a team-high 20 points on 7-for-23 shooting (3-for-7 from beyond the arc), pulled in two rounds, dished two assists and had a steal.

Howell had a double-double in her first game against her former team. She scored 16 points on a 5-for-14 clip (3-for-9 from beyond the arc), pulled in 13 rebounds, had two assists and snagged two steals.

Both teams started finding their offense in the second quarter. USC outscored the Huskies 18-14 and the two sides went into halftime knotted at 22-22. The Trojans got contributions from several players, whereas most of Washington's offense came from Sellers. She had 10 points in the second quarter and finished the first half with 13 of her 20 points.

With 7:25 left in the third quarter, Sellers sunk all three free-throw attempts after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to give the Huskies a 27-25 lead.

USC outscored Washington 14-7 the rest of the quarter to go into the final 10 minutes leading 39-34.

In the fourth quarter, the Huskies cut the Trojans' lead down to one possession several times, but were unable to make a final push to retake the lead.

Washington was unable to connect on a shot from the field in the final 4:36 of regulation and scored four points via four free throws. USC outscored the Dawgs 10-4 over that stretch to pull out the nine-point win.

The Huskies will next be in action against Green Bay at noon on Dec. 13 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

Washington's next Big Ten game will be against Northwestern at 5 p.m. PT on Dec. 29 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

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