NCAA Tournament team. We’ll be rooting for them to make a second weekend and keep it going.”

It looked as if the Trojans might pull away when they used a 13-4 run to take a 55-48 lead late in the third quarter, but Indiana charged back within 59-57 entering the fourth. USC pulled away again with a 9-3 spurt to make it 71-63 with 5:15 to play.

The Hoosiers never recovered.

After Indiana cut the deficit to 71-68 late in the fourth, USC answered with back-to-back 3s from Talia von Oelhoffen and Watkins to take its largest lead of the game.

“I think knowing what’s on the line, all the games are going to be like that,” Watkins said. “We don’t expect to just go in there and blow the other team out because there’s so much on the line and this conference is so good.

“We always go in knowing that we’re going to play our best and do whatever it takes to win. Then it comes down to the intangibles and tough plays that win the game.”

The Hoosiers probably locked up an NCAA Tournament bid with Thursday’s win over Oregon. If there still were doubts, Friday’s game answered those. Indiana executed coach Teri Moren’s game plan almost to perfection and the result was closer than expected.

Now USC can look forward to a semifinal matchup with Michigan. The Trojans won the first meeting 78-58 on Dec. 29.

“This is March basketball,” Gottlieb said. “I’ve told the team a number of times, we get no bonus points for being the regular-season champs. We get no bonus points for what we did yesterday, but we can derive from the success we’ve had what it is that makes us good. That you can carry forward with you all the time no matter what the circumstance presents.

“But we’re playing really good basketball teams from here on out.”